Behind the Mask
by Elipsa
Summary: Everyone knows the story of Harry Potter. However, what of the boy named Draco Malfoy? What if all that everyone knew about him was a lie? What if it was all an act? What if he was simply hiding behind a mask? AU, obviously. WIP.
1. Family is Everything

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine. I have taken some of the quotes directly from the first book. In this case, it's when Draco is talking to Harry in Madam Malkin's.

WARNING: The main characters are Draco and Harry. That is not the pairing. :) You'll figure out who ends up with who as the story progresses. I'd hate to give the game away. Also... the story doesn't truly begin until their third/fourth year - the eighth chapter - so I hope you guys are patient with it.

Now on to the story. :)

* * *

"_Faaaather_. What do you mean I can't be nice to him?" A small, eleven year old boy stood in front of an old wooden desk. Papers stacked high, quills lined up correctly on one side, a newspaper with moving photos folded neatly on the other. In the oak chair sat a man with long, white-blonde hair, a hand massaging his forehead.

"You heard correctly the first time. What have your mother and I told you repeatedly all your life?"

"I can not, and will not, befriend Harry Potter. But you never told me why. You never tell me anything." The whiny boy stood pouting, his eyes begging his father to tell him.

"No, son. Your mother and I do not wish for you to know just yet." The elder closed his eyes, fists clenched tightly under the desk. "You must keep your mask on, is that understood?"

"Yes, Father." The boy sighed, giving in. But at least my thoughts are my own. He sat in the chair in front of his father, glancing out the window. "When is Nott getting here?"

"In a few minutes, then we'll be heading to Diagon Alley. Your mother will be going as well. Now, head up like the Malfoy you are, Draco. After we walk out of this room, you will begin what you've been trained to do. You will not, under any circumstances, drop it until after your first year is done. Even when you are here with just your mother and I, you will keep it up. Understood?"

"Yes, Father. Will you be doing your mask as well?"

Lucius nodded, his eyes shadowed. He remembered well how long it took to train his son, and how he was, though no one was able to see it but his father and mother.

* * *

_"Mum! Look what Father gave me!" A tiny five year old squealed, running into the Master Suite, a minature broom in one chubby hand and a cookie in the other. "And Dobby! Dobby made me a cookie!" Without any other thought, the boy crammed said cookie into his mouth, "it's 'ummy, 'um! 'okie, 'okie!"_

_"Draco Lucius Malfoy!" Narcissa tried to sound stern, but a bubble of laughter threatened to escape her. "Do not talk with your mouth full, what would your father say?"_

_The boy chewed quickly before swallowing, a few crumbs still on his pale skin. Then little Draco took in a deep breath before holding up a finger, eyes screwed shut, "A true Malfoy will hold himself with diligence. Malfoy's will not disgrace themselves in anyway in front of others. Malfoy's will appear superior in every way." With that the boy dropped his hands and stared at his Mother, "but Mum, I don't know what diligence, disgrace, or superior means. Does that mean I'm a bad Malfoy?"_

_When his face scrunched up, and tears began to have a sheen in his eyes, his mother swooped down and plucked him from the floor. "No, Darling. It means you still have much to learn." She nuzzled his neck and blew into his ear until he giggled. "It just means you must act how your father has taught you to act in front of others."_

_"But Mum, I have to not tell anybody anything secret? What about Theo? He's nice."_

_"No, Darling, not even Theo can know our secrets. What have we told you, from the very beginning?"_

_"Family comes first. Family is everything."_

_She nodded, holding him close, "That's right, darling boy, family is everything."_

_When she felt Draco nod, she placed the energetic boy on the ground. "Well, Father isn't here, so can we not tell him I wasn't being a good Malfoy?"_

_With a laugh, Narcissa ruffled her son's hair, winking at the man who stood in the doorway, "Of course, Draco. We won't tell your father."_

* * *

"Are you ready, Draco?" Lucius had one hand on his son's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.

"I still don't understand." The boy looked up, hoping his father might tell him something, but Lucius shook his head. "Very well, but you do promise to tell me after this school year?"

"Yes, Draco. But first, you must prove that you are able to handle this before we tell you everything."

Draco nodded, and held his head high. For a moment, his eyes were squeezed shut, his hand reaching up to grasp Lucius'. But when his gray eyes flickered open, the once swirling colors appeared to dull and they no longer showed anything. Brushing his father's hand off, he spoke up obnoxiously, "Father, isn't it about time we head off? I do wish to get my things before school starts."

Lucius said nothing as his son strode out of the room, his stride long and powerful compared to the light hearted ones from before. He let himself have a second, before he, too, put on his mask and went after his son.

"Head to the floo room, the Nott's will be here momentarily. I shall go get Narcissa." With a small flourish, Lucius turned to go a different way.

But Draco had caught the small hand gesture, one so minute you had to be looking for to see. Over the years, the three of them had learned to be discreet with hand motions that only they would understand. The motions were for comfort, not words shared.

Refusing to smile, the eleven year old straightened his shoulders even more and headed for the floo. Before he could touch the handle, a pop was heard and there stood Dobby, already bowing low. "Master Draco, I's be getting the door for yous."

So even the house-elves were in on it this time around. Usually it was only for days at a time. It had even gone as long as four months, but never a year. He had never had to go somewhere new and be someone who he wasn't. No one would understand.

It was how it was supposed to be. Family was everything.

Ignoring the elf, though his mouth almost betrayed him in the form of a smile, he strolled into the room, hands behind his back. He stood to the side of the floo, waiting patiently for his guests.

Luckily for him, he was just on time as Theodore Nott burst through the suddenly green flames, almost tripping over his feet. "Malfoy," he greeted with an incline of his head, but decided to say nothing more.

Draco waited for a larger man to come out, more gracefully, before saying his reply, "Welcome to Malfoy Manor. Come, we must be meeting with my parents in the adjoining room."

Hoping his family was already there so he wouldn't have to talk, Draco led the other two through a door, not bothering to hold the door open for them. When he saw his mother and father already sitting, he suppressed a sigh of relief.

"Father, Mother." Stepping forward, he kissed his mum's cheek before standing beside his father's chair. Tharin Nott stood rigidly beside his own son while Lucius stared blankly at the two before speaking, "I see you have come, though you are later than you said you would be. Draco must have been there for minutes waiting." When Tharin started to speak, the long haired man stood. "Shall we be off? Narcissa."

The tall, slim woman stood and gracefully swooped past the others to head back into the floo room and Draco had to bite his tongue to stop from saying that the Nott's had arrived precisely on time.

Following his mother's lead, he went back into the room he had just left and watched as she disappeared in a flash of green and the words, spoken cool and calm, "Knockturn Alley."

A see-through vase stood beside the fireplace on an antique table, filled to the brim with glittery, silver powder. Putting his hand into the fine sand, he pulled out a handful and tossed it into the blazing fire, watching it turn from red to green. With confidence, he stepped into the blaze and spoke with command, "Knockturn Alley."

With his elbows tucked in, he let himself be pulled away. Fireplaces, hearths, bodies without definition flew past, no one the wiser that he was there seconds ago. On and on it went, and he was grateful when he started to slow. Waiting for the precise moment, he stepped out, not a single ash landing on his robes.

His mother gave him a swift nod, fixing the non-existent wrinkles from his clothing. "Excellent, Draco," she whispered.

He gave her a small smile, thankful he could somewhat talk to his mother normally. Though not for very long.

They stood and waited for the other three in Borgin and Burkes. Shelves lined with strange items stared at them. Coffins, skulls, dead rats, necklaces, rings, hands.

The next minute had everyone standing together and leaving the dreary shop to head towards Diagon Alley. The shaded streets had people in rags with beady eyes, following their every movement. Theodore gave in to his shudders, Draco held firm, his father's voice in his head: Malfoy's do not appear weak.

The shadows gave way to light, and they stood in the hustle and bustle of Diagon Alley. Witches and Wizards in all different sorts of colors. Some wore the hats, though not many. However, unlike the Malfoy's, the other's robes were plain. They didn't have the detail in them, nor made from the same material so they didn't give off the glow that the blonde hair family's did.

"Draco," Lucius looked over his shoulder and handed a bag filled with coins to his son. "Head to Madam Malkin's and get your robes. I'll be getting your books, your mother will be looking at wands, and the Notts," he gave them a disdainful look, "will be getting their money."

"Yes, Father." He didn't look back as he worked his way through the crowd. He would have just slipped in-between people, but while he wore his mask he had to push past them with a sneer in place.

It hurt when others muttered behind his back about rude children. But what his father told him to do was far more important than what others thought.

When he finally pushed the door open to the bustling shop, the witches in there saw the trademark Malfoy hair, and immediately put him on a stool to begin pinning a set of robes for him. He stood quietly, pretending to ignore the chatter, but his ear was open and inside he was smiling when they started to talk about new students getting ready for Hogwarts.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, are you ready for Hogwarts?"

He liked the lady the first time he had met her, five years prior. Madam Malkin was kind and sweet heartened, and he hated lying to her, but he always did and she was none the wiser.

"Your concern should only be on my robes."

She sighed, patting his arm. "Of course, dear." Every time she saw him, though, she tried. He seemed to be such a sweet boy, until he opened his mouth, but still, she tried.

The door gave a small squeak, announcing that someone had come in. Another boy, black haired, broken glasses that were round, skinny, clothing that was too big, came shuffling in with his head down. But when he looked up, Draco instantly recognized him.

His father had searched for him, dredging up old contacts to find just a single portrait of the boy. The moment he had it, he had shown the picture to Draco, telling him that it was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. Then having to tell his son that he had to make enemies with the boy if it was the last thing he did. For Draco's safety, for his family's safety. So Draco had sworn, even though he had no desire to make the green-eyed boy despise him.

So he started the conversation as soon as Harry Potter stood beside him, "Hello. Hogwarts, too?"

The small boy looked up, shocked that the sharp faced boy would talk to him. "Yes."

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands." Draco forced his voice to come out like a drawl. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow." As if he could bully his father into doing anything. "Have you got your own broom?"

"No." The boy had his head back down, looking at his toes, and Draco wished he could stop.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No."

"I do." Inside, where he was safe from others stares, he winced at how spoiled and conceited he sounded. "Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No."

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been - imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" The witch that was pinning his robes looked at the boy, a huff coming out of her thin mouth.

Oops. Must have been in Hufflepuff.

"Mmmm."

Looking out the window, Draco thought he did enough for the moment to get the boy to at least not like him, but he saw Hogwarts Gamekeeper grinning at Harry. Taking a breath to steady himself, he gasped, "I say, look at that man!"

When Harry looked up, a smile was on his face as he spoke, more confidently than he had the whole time. "That's Hagrid. He works at Hogwarts."

"Oh, I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?" Gritting his teeth, he said the words calmly as if it was the most natural thing to do.

"He's the gamekeeper."

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage - lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

"I think he's brilliant." The other boy's voice has gone cold, and Draco knew he was doing a bang up job getting Harry to hate him.

"Do you? Why is he with you? Where are your parents?" Draco swore to himself that that was going to be the last, cruel thing he would say for the day. Knowingly, and to this boy. If he had to be cruel to someone else, he would force himself to. Didn't mean he had to like it.

"They're dead."

"Oh, sorry. But they were our kind, weren't they?"

"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?" He had kept watch on Madam Malkin as she seemed to fly as she fixed Harry Potter's robes, so he knew that Harry wouldn't have to answer his last question. Maybe he was still being cruel with what he said, he just wanted out.

Harry - no, Potter - left quickly to go meet back up with Hagrid.

Draco could feel the cold stares from the witches, but he decided to ignore it. When Madam Malkin asked, "Why would you say such mean things about other people? He might not even share the same beliefs as you do, Mr. Malfoy."

He didn't reply, and he didn't speak as he joined his family and the Nott's later. He just stood tall with his mouth closed. He had said more than enough for the day. His hands were clenched into fists as he walked, but his face portrayed nothing. His nails dug deeper into skin as they completed their business and they headed home.

The food he ate didn't seem to hold any taste. It didn't seem to hold any substance. It just didn't help.

So he excused himself and headed for his suite on the second floor in the east wing. The moment the door closed, he ran to his bed and flopped down on it, hitting his pillow over and over again.

But he wouldn't change what he did for anything.

If he hurt Harry Potter, the one to take down You-Know-Who, then he would. If he had to anger Harry Potter, the one who was called the Boy-Who-Lived, then he would. If he had to become enemies with Harry Potter, the one to save the Wizarding World, then he would.

He would protect his family.

His family was all he had.

* * *

A/N So there's the first chapter of my first ever fanfiction. Hope you guys enjoyed it. :) Hopefully the next chapter will be up next week. Woo


	2. Protect Who You Can

A/N Summer before 2nd year. I'm going to do another chapter actually during the school year.

Just so you guys know, I didn't add the first book in because it isn't that important to the plot all around. It's just basically Draco not wanting to do what he's doing and all that jazz. The next chapter, however, will actually be the second year at Hogwarts.

* * *

Draco sat in the compartment, not bothering to listen to the idle chatter of Parkinson and Nott. The last thing he had heard was something about Harry and the other Gryffindors - Hermione, Neville and Weasley - getting enough points to bypass them in House Points.

In the safety of his mind he had decided he was going to call them by their first names - Harry and Hermione, at least - a sort of rebellion, but still keeping his family safe. He didn't understand what was so important about chess skills or using your brains or loyalty that caused them to gain those extra points. Or even about love that gave Harry enough points to get the Gryffindors the House Cup.

At first he had been annoyed. Slytherins had been in the lead, only to have it taken away from them at the last minute. But then he just accepted it; he didn't want to be who he was showing everyone he was. He wanted to be someone he liked and wanted to be.

Withholding his sigh, he appeared to be bored. In all honesty, he had to stop a grin from plastering itself on his face. He was going home, he was going to get answers, he was going to stop acting like someone that he wasn't.

Finally, after hours of endless chatter and watching out the window, Kings Cross came into view. Standing up, Draco stared down his nose at the other two. "I will see you two next term." He gave them a curt nod before leaving the room, his luggage left behind for his house-elves to pick up.

The two thugs, Crabbe and Goyle, were waiting for him on the outside of the sliding door. They followed him down and when the train stopped completely, the three jumped down - Draco more elegantly than the two idiots. He saw his parents and quickly ditched them.

"Mother, Father."

"Son," Lucius barely looked down to acknowledge him, but Draco's eyes were on the man's hands, and saw them give a tiny twitch. A second passed before Lucius apparated home, leaving Narcissa with their son.

"Draco," Narcissa bent a little and kissed his cheek, a small smile coming when he repeated her motion. "Come, lets go home." She touched his shoulder, both turning as one.

The sudden feeling of being squeezed through a tube came, and it was difficult to breathe. But it was gone as soon as it came. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he was wrapped in a tight, strong hug.

For a second Draco tensed, but then he remembered the words his father spoke of a year ago. '_You will not, under any circumstances, drop it until after your first year is done.'_ His first year was finished, over with.

He burrowed his face in his father's chest, clutching as tightly as he could. "Was it worth what I did, Father? Is it worth it to have so many people hate me? Fear me?"

Narcissa surrounded her son on the opposite side, hugging both her boys. "Oh, Darling, you'll never know how much this means."

Raising his head, Draco smiled up at the two and let go, getting himself under control. With dignity that he was used to after a year, he straightened his clothes and stood proud.

Hooking her arm through her son's and husband's arms, Narcissa strolled down the long stretch of walkway up to the mansion. When they passed through the barrier preventing apparation, Draco shivered happily and whispered, "I'm home."

The three of them walked slowly, just basking in each others presence and getting used to having the masks down for the first time in a year. The year had been difficult, and the boy relished being home, a broad grin overtaking his face.

A loud _pop_ announced the house-elf, and bowed low to the three. "Masters and Mistress Malfoy, welcome home."

"Dobby!" Draco let go of his mum and stepped closer to the house-elf. "How has the year treated you?"

The house-elf instantly got up, bouncing on his toes. "I is good, Master Draco. The year has been difficult without yous being there, sir. I don't get to make as much cookies as usual." Big, brown eyes looked up at Draco with pleading eyes. "Do yous wish for cookies, sir?"

Withholding a laugh out of habit, Draco smiled down at the elf and nodded, "They sound really nice right about now."

"Don't ruin his supper, Dobby," Narcissa interrupted before the house-elf could vanish. "Only one or two."

"Mum! I haven't had Dobby's cookies in forever, and you expect me not to eat them all?" The three laughed, at ease.

Everything was back to normal. Draco didn't have to hide, and all he could feel relief. There was nothing that would ruin that day.

* * *

He had been correct. Nothing was ruined that day. They had all laughed and enjoyed talking with each other, though Draco didn't talk much about his school year except for his classes and professors, never once mentioning friends or enemies. His parents talked of what Narcissa did around the mansion, what Lucius did at the Ministry, and what the two of them did together while wishing for their son.

A few days later a knock came from his door and the boy mumbled about sleeping and rolled over, pulling the covers over his head. "Draco, darling, get up get up! It's your birthday! Up up up!" Narcissa skipped into the room, smiling down at the bundle on the bed.

"It's my 'irfday. Let 'e slee'." The drowsy boy moaned, his words slurring.

"Lucius, love, do you think you could get our darling boy up?" Batting her lashes at her smiling husband who had just walked in, she nearly bounced when he strode over and ripped the covers off, showing a spastic Draco trying to grab them back.

"Give 'em back!" The voice was whiny, and he was pouting up at them when he sat up.

"Act your age, Draco." Laughing, Narcissa gave a kiss to his forehead. "Now that you're up, lets go get breakfast and you can have a look at your presents!"

"Ugh, sleeeeep." When he meant to fall back on his bed, Lucius hand was on his arm, pulling him out of it.

"Your mother said up, so up you get."

Getting up, the lanky boy stretched, arms reaching above his head as he walked to his closet. His parents left, and he called out, "Dobby!"

"Master Draco!" Dobby _popped_ in beside the blonde and gave a tiny bow. "What cans Dobby do?" He snapped his long fingers and a cookie appeared in one hand with a glass of milk in the other. "This?"

"Thank Merlin for you, Dobby." The boy grinned at him and, where he once would have stuffed the cookie, savored it slowly, careful not to let a crumb fall on him. With that finished, he downed the milk. Smiling, he handed the empty glass back to the happy elf.

"Anything else, Master Draco?"

"Yeah, I would like to get to my actual clothing, Dobby. Not the usual robes I have to wear constantly when I'm under the mask."

With a happy nod, the elf gave one more snap and there was a completely different wardrobe that appeared.

"Thanks Dobby, that's all."

"No problems at all, sir! Dobby is happy to help Master Draco!" With that the excited house-elf left to give Draco some privacy. With quick motions, he was in and out of the shower in fifteen minutes and in a pair of black jeans and a soft silver button down shirt in the next five. Sighing, he just enjoyed the feel of the fabric on his skin once more. He wasn't even allowed to wear the clothing under his robes, where no one would see.

Still, it was nice. Running a hand through his now gel-free hair, he let the damp locks flow freely. They ran down to his chin, and he left his room in high spirits, water droplets falling on his clothes.

As he wandered down the stairs, he couldn't bring himself to jog down like he wanted. No, he kept himself at a sedate walk though he burned to hurry. By the time he got to the kitchen door, he placed his head on the wooden entrance.

Now home he could do anything he wanted, but he couldn't. He wouldn't. Draco felt himself harden a little bit, but then he shook himself. He was home. Letting his smile come out, he pushed any dark thoughts to the back of his mind. It was his birthday. June fifth.

Entering the room, he grinned at his parents and sat between them, a large breakfast before him. Eggs, bacon, pancakes, sausage, whipped cream, platters of cookies - from Dobby - orange juice, pumpkin juice, milk, cereal, and anything else Draco might have wanted.

They ate quietly, talking with each other, enjoying each others company. When they finished, Dobby, Mipsy, and Dixon _popped_ in to clear everything away.

Narcissa had an arm thrown around her husband's waist, while Lucius had a hand on Draco's shoulder as they walked to the family room, where there were a few gifts waiting for him. Four to be exact.

Draco grinned before racing over to the four wrapped gifts, before falling to the ground and carefully pulling the paper off. Being sure not to rip the precious wrappings, he folded them neatly, leaving four boxes in their places, each different sizes and lengths, one especially long.

"Well, son? Which one will be your first?"

He pondered before reaching for the longest and gently easing it open. "A broom? Father, a Nimbus 2001? Really? For me?" The boy jumped up, holding the broom close to his chest. "Just for me to ride whenever I please and not as a part of the mask? Truly, it's for me?"

Chuckling, Lucius nodded. "It is yours. You don't need permission to ride it, only for _when_ you ride it."

"Of course." Sitting back down, the happy smile didn't leave his face, and he kept the broom in his lap, afraid it would just disappear. Grabbing the next one, he found four empty diaries in there.

Now Narcissa spoke up, in a quiet voice, "These are from both your father and I. You will have one, as will we. No one who sees these will know what they are. Yours will appear as notes to anyone else, mine will show some plans for the month, your fathers will show his schedule for work, and the last one will make sure the owner will never be found guilty of having one. You write the name of who you desire to speak to, and then write your message. Your message will then appear in their journal until they read it, where they decide to either write back or acknowledge that they've read it. That way, you always have us to talk to, no matter where or when."

Draco's eyes watered for a second before he pushed them back ruthlessly. "They're perfect." He got to his feet and pressed a kiss to her cheek, "Thanks, Mum."

Rising, she wrapped her arms around him, "You know we'll do anything for you, Dray. Anything to keep you safe."

"I know," he answered, his face buried in her neck. Then he stepped back, placed another kiss to her cheek and sat back down.

The next was a tin full of cookies. For a second he just stared at it before his laughter boomed out, a few snorts escaping his mouth before he could cover it. He fell back, his fit soon giving him stitches in his side.

When he could breathe again, he grinned to his parents, "Dobby?"

A _pop_ came with the nods of his parents. Dobby stood in front of him, head lowered, his fingers messing with his pillowcase shirt. "Master Draco called?"

"Is this from you, Dobby?"

"From us all house-elves, sir." Still the elf didn't look at his young master. "House-elves magic strong, sir. We can refill your cookies when they is gone, and no one will knows. We like giving you cookies, sir."

"Thank you, Dobby." The house-elf looked up, his large bat ears flopping against his head. "It's perfect."

"Really? Dobby goes and tells others, sir, if ok."

Draco grinned at the elf. "Go on."

With a squeak, Dobby was gone and left Draco and his parents alone with his last present. Picking up the tiny box, he opened it and smiled at the small necklace in it.

His mother slipped off the couch next to her husband and sat next to her son. "This, Draco," she spoke as she picked it up and clasped the gold, chain choker on his neck. "Is a special necklace." She summoned a small mirror and showed it to him, but where it should have been, he couldn't see it. "You can't see it, but when you are near someone who's trustworthy, it will grow warm every time they are near. It will also protect you from harmful spells. Jinxes it won't because it would be suspicious at school. However, you never have to worry about fixing the length, it will grow with you."

"Aren't a lot of people trustworthy in their own way, Mum?"

She touched a finger to his nose. "You were always so smart, darling boy. You are very much correct. However, if they will be trustworthy to _you_, then it will grow warm. Those who will never betray you for anything, even though they don't know it themselves. The necklace knows your secrets, it knows that if everyone knew all about you, who wouldn't betray you."

"Thank you, Mum." He engulfed her in a hug, and he smiled at the warmth the necklace gave off. But then his mind went back to the day he had to put on his mask for the year, and that his father promised to tell him why the mask was so important. "Father?"

"Yes, Draco?" Lucius smiled at his son when he stood; he walked over to him and sat on the rug by his family.

"You said you would explain things to me after my first year. Will you tell me why I have to do what I am?"

Narcissa squeezed her boy harder, eyes held tightly closed. "I wish we didn't have to tell you."

"Is it that bad?"

"Worse, Darling. It is very terrible, my son, and we wish we never had to have you do what you're doing. But family is everything, and we want you to live."

"Mum," Draco pulled back, looking from his mother to father quickly. "That doesn't help."

She sighed, "I don't suppose it did. Lucius?"

"Draco, are you sure you don't want to wait until tomorrow?"

"I'm sure. Oh, wait!" He handed them the two diaries before placing the extra two in front of him, including the tin of cookies. His broom still lay clutched in his lap, anchoring him. "Ok. I'm sure."

Lucius couldn't bear to look at his son, so he stared at the family portrait, before gazing into the fire that blazed in front of them. "You know what we've told you of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named - also known as the Dark Lord - and the First Wizarding War."

"Yes, Father."

"What else do you remember?"

"That he was against all muggles and muggle-borns. That he was trying to extinguish them until only those with wizarding parents would live. He also had followers, Death Eaters, right?" When his father nodded, Draco continued. "They did horrible things. They set homes on fires, had werewolves and giants on his side. They destroyed almost everything."

"Correct."

"What does that have to do with us?"

Lucius opened his mouth to continue, but found it clogged. His eyes were half-closed, emotions swirling out of control. His hands shook before he got them to listen to his will. He looked over at his wife, and Narcissa picked up.

"Darling, your grandfather held the same beliefs as You-Know-Who. He had received the Dark Mark - what the Dark Lord gave his followers so he could communicate with them - and when Lucius was old enough, forced him into it as well."

Draco stood, heart racing and stared at his father. "Father?" His voice, no more than a whisper, reached Lucius' ears, and the elder man couldn't help but flinch.

"It's true, Draco." He rolled up his left sleeve, bearing his arm to his son, showing pale skin. Tapping his wand on the inside of his forearm, a skull with a snake leaving its mouth appeared. "We were branded like cattle, and I had no choice in the matter but to go along, pretending that it was what I wanted. What I always wanted." He tapped the mark again, and it seeped back into his skin.

When Draco looked like he was about to flee, Narcissa gently cupped his elbow, "Draco, please let us finish."

With a slow nod, he sank back to the ground.

"Years passed, and it didn't look good for the Light Side. They weren't able to hold up to the Dark Lord. No matter what they did, they couldn't do anything. Not even with Severus and I spying on He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named to Dumbledore."

"Severus is -"

"Darling, let him finish."

"Though, no one except Dumbledore knew of my allegiance. Severus actually joined their group, but it was too risky for me. Snape was already close to Dumbledore, and I could not disappear at odd times. Narcissa would need me, as You-Know-Who stayed here regularly. It was very difficult to get away and get any news to the other side. But no matter how much information either of us could give, it didn't seem to help. It looked bleak, and then Narcissa got pregnant with you. I was terrified. I didn't want any child of mine to grow up with that monster around. When you were born, I was more scared than proud.

"But then something extraordinary happened. A baby boy, no more than a year old, was able to stop the Dark Lord in his tracks. A boy sent him to his demise. A child was able to give us, Narcissa and I, a chance to raise you the correct way. Harry Potter gave you a chance to be someone other than an evil person. Your mother and I feel we owe him so much because of that."

"Then why do you want him to think that I hate him?"

Lucius smiled sadly at his twelve year old son, "because we believe he can come back. While he was alive, he always said he had a plan to come back. So we trained you to use your mask, so in case he does, you can pull it on."

"Why not join the other side?" Draco's head felt like exploding. So much information. So much information, he wasn't sure he could take it all.

"He will kill us once he knows we defected. Family comes first, Draco. I don't want you dead. We can also be able to spy once more for Dumbledore, and hope that it will turn out differently."

"But why are you so sure he'll come back?" Draco's voice raised, his body shaking as he tried to take it all in. "What about Mum, was she involved?"

"No, your mother was not. She never got the mark, and hopefully she nor you will ever have to take it." Here Lucius paused, not sure if he should keep going, but a nod from his wife made him press on. "He's been giving me snippets of where he is, or where he will be while the mark burns. I will already be in much trouble when he comes back for not responding and helping him. However, I have been given a task that I can not ignore, and I will have to carry out, no matter the consequences."

Draco sat, stunned, before he nodded and rose. He grabbed his gifts and muttered a quiet, "Please excuse me," and then leaving the room.

Narcissa let her tears flow, falling into the waiting arms of her husband. "Will he be ok, love? Please tell me he'll be ok."

"He'll be ok, dear. We'll help him through it. Family comes first, Narcissa. I will not lose our son to the Dark Lord."

* * *

Days passed, until it was nearing the end of July. They had talked, sometimes only for minutes, others for long hours. Sometimes they talked of the past, others they talked of the future and what was in store for them - the good and the bad.

His father had told him about what his mission was, and how he was going to go about doing it, and what the outcome will be, if everything went how the Dark Lord wanted.

Draco, after hearing how much Harry Potter meant to his family, swore that he would repay the other boy in anyway that he could. When the war was over, he would give anything and everything to him for what was given to him, though Harry would never realize.

"Draco," his mother knocked before gently pushing his door open. Draco was once again buried under his blankets, trying to sleep in longer. "Darling, I hate to do this, but up you get." When all she got was mumbling, she smiled at the bundle. "Don't make me get your father."

The blankets were tossed back, and a disheveled boy sat up, his face a mixture of a pout and a glare.

"There you are, Darling, it's time for breakfast."

"Mother," his quiet voice made her stop in his doorway and look back. "After breakfast, the masks go back on, right?"

"I'm afraid so, Dray."

With a sigh, Draco nodded. "Alright." When she left, the only sound giving her away was the soft click of the door shutting. After a quick shower, he gelled his hair back and penned a short note and put it on his bed. When he packed, he was sure to put his diary and cookie tin safely hidden under robes while his broom was at the bottom, shrunk to fit. He touched a finger to his neck, drawing strength from the invisible necklace. With a last look around his room, he went downstairs to eat with his family normally for the last time until the next year.

* * *

As he was leaving - with the Zabini's this time around, though not to get their school supplies yet - he called out, "Dobby!"

"Yes, Master Malfoy?" The elf bowed low, never raising his eyes off the floor.

"Clean my room. I want it spotless by the time I get back."

"Yes, sir, right away, sir." With that, the elf _popped_ away and everyone else finished flooing to Knockturn Alley.

* * *

Dobby stood staring at the words on the paper, a small, sad smile on his overly large face. He gave the room one last sweep before he snapped his fingers, burning the note, and left the room, the house, with his destination clear in his mind.

_Dobby,_

_I'm asking this of you because I know how great an actor you really are. My father told me all of the Dark Lord's plans for this year, and what it entails. You, from me, know of this also. So I'm ordering you: go warn Harry Potter that danger lies in Hogwarts this year without stating what it is, and that you aren't even supposed to be there. I know you can do it, my friend._

_Burn this note as soon as you've finished reading this._

_Draco_

_P.S. Thanks for the cookies again!_

* * *

Draco, as he watched the Weasleys, the Grangers, and Harry leave Flourish and Blotts days later, he couldn't help himself and wonder if what Dobby said stuck with the other boy. Keeping his mask firmly in place, he followed his father out into the busy streets and hoped that what he did was a start to keeping the other boy alive.

He would protect whom he could, including Harry Potter. Family came first, but protecting Harry seemed almost as important for what the other boy did, and would have to do all over again.


	3. Broken

A/N. Some narratives are taken directly from the second book. Once again, this isn't mine. Ummmm…. Yeah. Second Year at Hogwarts. :) Enjoy

* * *

_Dear Draco,_

_Your father and I are doing well. I miss seeing you everyday. I miss you and your father's bickering over the silliest things._

_Anyway, Darling, I hope this sees you well since you've been at school for only a night. I heard about the incident between the two boys, Harry and Ron, and the Whomping Willow. Those two are alright, correct?_

_How are your classes? Please tell me that dreaded Gilderoy Lockhart is able to teach a decent class. I am so glad your father and I decided to teach you young. I've been busy, and the house-elves are staying out of my way, sadly. It's for the best, though, but it's still sad that I can not spend time talking to Dixon about odds and ends around the mansion. It is very tiring._

_I am forever grateful that your father and I found these diaries when we did. Now, hopefully, we won't be so lonely without each other._

_You'll forever have my love, and don't eat too many cookies!_

_Mum._

* * *

Draco couldn't smile at the diary and the entry from Monday. There were Slytherins surrounding him at the table, keeping their voices low and glares open. Especially towards the Gryffindor table.

It was a Saturday morning, and the lions were rambunctious. Apparently since Harry wasn't there, everyone had to throw a fit so early in the morning. He took another, slow bite as he reread the entry from his mother.

"Malfoy," Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch Captain, strode up behind him, "Practice."

Taking a deep breath, Draco stood up and followed the Captain and the others out from the Hall, and towards the Quidditch Pitch. They all changed into their green robes, each holding onto a brand new broom, the Nimbus 2001.

When he had learned his father had bought the other boys on the team one, he had refused to talk to him - in the diary or in real life. It had taken his mother many days to soothe him - diary wise, of course - and to get him to understand that he wanted to give it to Draco the year before, but it hadn't been completed yet. That Lucius didn't know that many of the fathers that had boys on the Slytherin team wouldn't allow Draco to be on the team unless there was a show of good faith in all the boys.

Draco didn't want to be on the team after he heard that. He still hadn't talked to his father.

There was Harry, along with the rest of the Gryffindor team, up in the air. Their captain, Oliver Wood, was diving towards the ground and landed harder than necessary. "Flint! This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"

Draco stopped paying attention, his ears and brain catching the words, but a smirk stayed plastered on his face while he studied the morning sky. His mind was stuck on his diary, and the notes he had been exchanging with his mother.

The couple of times he got one from his father, he read, but didn't get rid of them. He didn't reply to them, but he kept them. But as he stared at the Gryffindors facing Slytherins, he had a sudden urge to go to his bag and write his father a note.

"What's happening? Why aren't you playing? And what's _he_ doing here?" The last sentence, Draco forced himself to up his smirk.

"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley. Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team." He watched as Ron gaped at the brooms, finally unable to speak. "Good, aren't they? But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too. You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them."

He cringed inwardly when the Slytherin team howled with laughter.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way in," Hermione's voice cut through, hard and cold. "_They_ got in on pure talent."

The smug look that Malfoy had on flickered, and he wanted nothing more than to agree with the girl. "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," he managed to spit out.

There was a huge uproar, and the only person he could hear was Ron when he yelled, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" His wand pointed at Draco from under Flint's arm, and the blonde hair boy did nothing to protect himself when he knew he was going to be jinxed.

But the loud bang echoed around, and he didn't feel any different. A jet of green light had shot of the wrong end of the redhead's wand, hitting the other boy right in the chest. In the next instance Ron was on the ground, coughing.

Hermione ran over to the fallen boy, squealing, "Ron! Ron! Are you alright?"

When the boy went to speak, he let out a loud belch and several slugs dribbled out of his mouth and straight into his waiting lap.

Harry went over to his friends and helped the fallen boy up, grunting that they had better get him to Hagrid's. Hermione ended up having to give a hand to haul Ron up, and they headed away. A boy with glasses and a camera followed close behind them, badgering them. Or, more accurately, Harry.

The Gryffindor team had to call it off since Harry was out. So they walked off the field, giving glares to the Slytherins.

As Draco's group took off flying, he realized that his neck was beginning to cool. Surprised, he stopped himself from looking down.

The necklace had warmed only during class, with lots of others around. He looked over at the Gryffindors retreating back, already having a good idea of who the necklace was talking about.

When the necklace went off in the Slytherin Common Room, though, he didn't have the slightest inkling of who it was.

* * *

_Father,_

_I'm sorry for having ignore you for so long. I've been angry because you told me that the broom was for me, and me alone, but then I find out that you gave the Slytherin Quidditch Team the same broom. I was just angry._

_I understand why you did it, but I don't understand why it's so important for me to be on the team. I hold no real joy flying for them, Father. I just want to fly for the heck of it._

_I'm only twelve, but I feel so old already. I have to lie, pretend, and fake my way through school. I wish everything was simple again, and the mask was a fun thing to do. Pretending to be someone you're not._

_It's not so fun anymore._

_Be safe, keep Mum from overreacting to everything._

_Draco_

* * *

Mrs. Norris had been petrified for some time, and Draco couldn't help but feeling elated for that. No more nosey cat around, but he felt sorry for Mr. Filch. The one person - animal - that could deal with his presence was gone.

The words that he had spoken earlier made him want to bang his head on the table in front of him. _Enemies of the heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!_ Could he sound any more pompous than he did?

The library was huge, and could easily hide the lone boy. He was hidden behind books of all sorts. Mostly history of the First Wizarding War.

He would have loved to come more often, but it wasn't safe. For one he was Slytherin. And secondly, he was Malfoy. Just one of them seemed to make the boy dangerous. But the second one made him enemies, and it wasn't wise to be by himself.

Normally he would have the two goons with him, but he needed some time to himself.

The match between the Slytherins and Gryffindors was coming up soon. He had been there since seven, unable to go back to sleep after waking up, and it was already approaching ten fifteen.

So, when he was positive no one else was there - who would be with the match coming up so soon? - he carefully replaced all the books. It was the first time he let his mask slip in years, but he wanted to do something himself.

Usually, he just left them all piled up when he left. But this time he had his bag with all of his school work, so he was hoping Madam Pince would think he was simply doing work with his own books. Even if she didn't, it wasn't like she had anybody to tell.

He headed to the pitch and entered the Slytherin locker room, quickly changing into his emerald Quidditch robes. Flint talked about their plan of attack, but Draco couldn't find it in him to care.

As his captain talked, rain started to pour down, crashing on the roof with ferocity. Thunder boomed, causing the small building to shake. All Draco wished to do was to sit in the stands one more time, enjoying the feel of the storm. Yelling and cheering on his team with his housemates. No longer the imperious Malfoy, but the young boy Draco.

No more of those chances seemed to exist.

With a silent sigh, he stood with his team and shouldered his broom. He walked side by side with Flint to the entrance before they all strode out, keeping their bodies straight and their faces calm when they were hit by the onslaught of the wind.

The captains shook hands and they were up in the air, the crowd cheering was drowned out by the pouring rain. Up, up, up he flew, high above everyone except for one. High above his worries. He left them all behind on the ground.

Yet they followed him.

"Alright there, Scarhead?" He yelled to the hovering boy above him.

A bludger rocketed towards Harry, but one of the Weasley twins hit it towards Draco. But even as the blonde swerved to dodge, it spun and bulleted back towards the other boy. Harry took off, moving every which way, but the bludger was right on his tail, following his every twitch.

Once again, one of the twins hit it, but the bludger wasn't deterred. It still was after the black haired boy as if he was the only player on the field.

Not really paying attention, Draco barely had time to drop some feet before the other bludger hit him.

A long tweet was heard, and all of them dropped towards the ground for a time-out. They all watched the Gryffindors have a heated debate. The Weasley twins looked furious, Harry stubborn and set, and Wood looked like he had a migraine. Finally, the Gryffindor captain snapped something, and all the red robed persons nodded.

Another long tweet and they were all in the air once again, the rogue bludger zeroing in on Harry. Even as Harry swerved around, Draco saw the snitch fly directly in front of him.

He watched it, detachedly. As Malfoy, he should have grabbed it and spat in the face of all that was Gryffindor. But he was Draco, and he didn't want to be Malfoy for just another small moment.

Just like when he put his books away, he turned his head a different way and pretended he couldn't see the tiny, golden ball.

A shout of pain was heard, and Draco looked towards Harry and saw that his right arm hung lifelessly by his side, the bludger going in for another shot, except for the head. Harry did another maneuver, and then he was heading straight towards Draco.

He had seen the snitch.

Letting his eyes widen, Malfoy let out a gasp of, "What the -" before he moved out of the way of the other boy and incoming bludger.

Luckily, they weren't very high up in the air because in the next instant Harry was falling. Still, Draco couldn't help but head after him, keeping an eye on the boy when he landed with a thud. When he caught the smile, the movement of lips, he couldn't help but be relieved.

* * *

_Draco,_

_It is so good to hear from you. I understand your anger, and I'm sorry. Throughout the summer, I was hoping I didn't have to do what I did, but there was no other choice. I have no excuses that will mean anything._

_So I will just say sorry, and hope that it's enough._

_What about what happened with Harry? Draco Lucius Malfoy, I know you told Dobby to try to warn Harry, but attacking him with a bludger? I dearly hope that was not your idea. If it was, we will have a serious conversation once you are home for the summer._

_Now, how come you couldn't win the match? You are an excellent seeker, and you know how to play the game very well. I know you said you don't enjoy flying for the team, but does it really have to stop your love for the game? If it does, then I am terribly sorry._

_Back to Dobby, he had left a note for me - the wonders of house-elf magic - telling me of a place that you could visit that no one else could. One that will give you the privacy to be who you are in peace. It is called the Come and Go Room. It is on the seventh floor, located oppositely of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet. You must walk past the empty wall three times, thinking about what you need, and the door will appear in front of you. I had no knowledge of this room before now, and I hope it gives you what you need._

_Lastly, Draco, I had wished you never had to do this. I wished every day of your life that you could live to be who you wanted to be. I wished that you did not have to go through what I had. I wished only the best. I still wish, and I still hope._

_You are still you, Draco. Do not lose that._

_Love,_

_Father_

* * *

He had yet to try out the Come and Go Room. Draco wasn't sure he wanted to test it out. He was too afraid to lose hope that it was real.

Then there was the whole issue that Harry was a Parseltongue. No matter what the boy did, trouble followed him. It was difficult to work through his parents through the diary, and them through Dobby to protect the black haired boy, but he still tried. Though after the bludger incident, it was basically just Dobby watching over Harry without any knowledge.

His short trip back home for Christmas was just enough time to get some money from his parents, who merely told him to use it wisely. After a day there, he went back to Hogwarts, messaging his parents that their gifts were still with him and ready for them during the Summer Holidays. His were safely hidden within the mansion, also waiting for the hotter days.

He was relaxing in a plush chair, the rest of the Slytherins either in their dormitories or still away at their homes.

Although he knew he shouldn't, he worried for the two oafs that had been gone too long. They never were really smart enough to make up their minds on anything, so he left the common room and headed down the hallway.

He walked for only a minute before he caught sight of the backs of the two, and another, taller, redhead. Keeping his face stoic, he called out, "There you are. Have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? I've been looking for you; I want to show you something really funny." He then glanced over at the elder Weasley, Percy, and sneered, "And what're you doing down here, Weasley?"

Percy glowered at the younger boy, "You want to show a bit more respect to a school's prefect! I don't like your attitude!"

He didn't reply, just motioned for Crabbe and Goyle to follow him. Walking quickly, the other two had to lumber after him, huffing and puffing. "That Peter Weasley - "

Crabbe interrupted him, "Percy."

"Whatever." Though it was strange that Crabbe knew even that. That was when his necklace decided to start warming up. "I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed." Laughing, Draco stopped in front of the damp wall that hid the entrance to their dorm. He turned to Goyle, "What's the new password again?"

"Er - "

"Oh, yeah - _pure-blood_!" Glad that Goyle seemed at least more normal than Crabbe, he moved through the door that had slid open when he said the password.

The common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was blazing in an elaborately carved mantelpiece, with high-backed chairs sitting in front of them.

It was a mixture of comfort and dreary.

"Wait here, I'll go and get it - my father's just sent it to me." He went through another door that led to the boys dorm and went down the stairs before entering his room. Slytherins were only bunked with one other person, in his case, Nott. Oh the irony.

Grabbing the paper, he went back to the two and saw them seated in two chairs away from the fire, facing another chair. He thrust it under Crabbe's nose. "That'll give you a laugh."

Both of them leaned over the paper and read, the title being _Inquiry at the Ministry of Magic._ It basically spoke of Arthur Weasley being fined for enchanting a muggle car, and Draco's father asking for his resignation.

It sickened him, and his father had no desire to see it through. Sacrifices for the family.

"Well?" He asked, when Goyle handed the paper back to him. "Don't you think it's funny?"

The only thing Goyle said was, "Ha, ha."

He hid his distrust by looking down at the paper. "Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them. You'd never know the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave."

Looking up through his bangs, he saw Crabbe's face scrunch in what only could be anger. "What's up with you, Crabbe?"

"Stomachache," was what he heard through a grunt.

"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me. You know, I'm surprised the _Daily Prophet_ hasn't reported all these attacks yet. I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place." Such lies that spilled from his mouth, but he was watching the two avidly. "He loves Muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in."

Pretending to take pictures, Draco never felt more like a fool. " 'Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, please, Potter?' "

He dropped his hands and nearly kicked the two, "What's wrong with you." They weren't Crabbe and Goyle. Someone was pretending to be someone they weren't. He looked away, not sure who would want to do that.

The two laughed quickly, apparently trying to appease Draco.

Deciding to double-check his guess, he said something that he said many times, and shouldn't have surprised the real Crabbe and Goyle. "Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend. He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped up Granger Mudblood. And people think _he's_ Slytherin's heir!" He rolled his eyes for emphasis, watching the two's every movement. "I _wish_ I knew who it _is_. I could help them."

When Crabbe's jaw dropped, he knew he had them. They were fake.

But so was he.

He wasn't surprised when Goyle asked more questions without any stumbles or awkward pauses, and he answered without really thinking about it. Draco knew they weren't really the oafs, and he couldn't understand who wanted to be them. But the questions were pointed to the Chamber, so maybe someone who knew what was going on was fishing for more.

Made sense.

And then the necklace. He looked over at the two, a tiny frown on his face.

If he wanted, he could have easily made the two stay, but he was in position to stop them. They were faking someone else, as was he. If he stopped them, he felt as though he should stop himself.

He couldn't.

Watching the two leave, he wished the pair good fortunes. When he rubbed his neck as his necklace cooled, he wished Harry and whoever his counterpart was the best of luck, and wishing there was something he could do to help.

* * *

_Mum,_

_It's so good to hear from you so soon. Yes, Father told me about the Come and Go Room, though I'm surprised you didn't ask him yourself since he does have a diary of his own and you communicate to each other through that all the time. Honestly, Mum, I'm fine._

_Schools fine, just boring stuff, really. I told you what happened to Crabbe and Goyle. Seriously, though, Father isn't too mad about the whole Dobby trying to save Harry thing, is he? I don't want to be yelling at each other as soon as our masks slip off._

_Anyway, I don't have more time to write. I have to head to Lockheart's class, which is still a drag._

_And yes, I eat a cookie every night before sleeping._

_I'm sorry, Mum! But they're so tasty!_

_All of my love,_

_Draco_

* * *

It wasn't very easy getting to the seventh floor without being noticed.

It was harder still not appearing before portraits on the way to the seventh floor.

Thank Merlin for fathers who teach their children disillusionment spells as soon as they could.

Draco had slipped past many kids on the way up the moving stairs. Never before had he gone as high as the seventh floor, and he got lost a few times. Portraits laughed and moved through different paintings. Kids giggling and laughing atrociously loud for a Saturday afternoon with the sun high and the sky clear.

They should have been outside and out of Draco's way, but no. They wanted to make his life more difficult than it already was. Squeezing himself against the wall to not hit two girls rushing down, he held in his breath.

After another ten minutes, he made it in front of Barnabas' painting. He was showing the trolls a certain spin, and when they just stared at him, he repeated the move before they tried. It looked like they were having a seizure.

Taking a deep breath, he faced the opposite wall before moving to the right side of it. Three times he walked past the empty space, each time thinking: _Give me a place to be myself, and where no one can find me._

When he looked at the wall again, there was a door. With a shaking hand, he pushed it open and a whoosh of air left him.

He was in a room he had never been in before. Somewhere that had never been tainted by his mask.

The ceiling was high, the floors were carpeted a deep burgundy. Books upon books stood on the wall with the door, a fireplace on another, a hammock hanging from the ceiling on the third - across from the door with a magnificent view of an ocean - and the last was covered in photos of him and his family. In the room were vases, seat cushions with a table to study, a chair in front of the fire, and his house-elves tin of cookies.

It was perfect.

Closing his eyes, he let his emotions that he kept bottled up inside him for the past two years - for the first year he was never really able to expel them out - and let them roar to the front of his mind. He grabbed everything he could, exempting the cookies and photos, and tossed them everywhere, screaming and pounding the walls.

The people he didn't like were supposedly his friends. Those he wanted as friends despised him. Those who knew him pretended that he didn't exist to protect one another.

It was all too much for his twelve year old mind.

Crashing to floor, he wrapped himself in a ball and let himself cry for the first time in years. His body jerked with his sobs, the cushions and carpet soon becoming soaked.

Endless minutes passed, and the only sound that he could hear was his ragged breathing. When he finally let himself float away into sleep, he didn't realize he was wrapped around the tin of cookies.

From the outside, not a single sound escaped the walls as students passed. Not a one of them knew the sufferings of the stuck up boy they thought they knew. Not a one of them cared that there was something bigger happening.

Not a one of them knew what kind of a boy hid behind the icy mask.


	4. Hope for the Future

The image in the mirror was disturbing. The cool, gray eyes were hooded; they showed nothing. Features that were supposed to be relaxed were pulled tight; they held secrets. The body was as firm as a thirteen year old kid could get; it brooked no insolence. Hair that was close to white, but not quite, was gelled back; it gave no hints of the person inside.

Nothing about him told him who he was. No, it was only his voice inside his own his mind that kept telling him that he was different; that he was better.

Draco's hands gripped the sink, his knuckles turning white. He didn't know how long he could take it, taking his mask up and down in front of his parents again and again. Falling to his knees, he gripped the ceramic tighter, fingers popping.

So he closed his eyes, trying to center himself. His ragged breathing slowly evened out and he was able to stand, his fingers letting go of their iron grip.

Straightening his shirt he called out, "Dobby!"

He waited for a few minutes before repeating his call. But when the house-elf didn't reply, Draco's eyes widened. It was all he could do to not rush out of his room.

He exited it, his movements quick. Darting around the mansion his strides were long, his eyes searching for his parents.

Room after room, level after level, he couldn't find them. Tapestries of sceneries, portraits of his ancestors, he swept by, not paying attention to them. The carpet soothed his bare feet, but he didn't really notice.

Finally he made it to the dining room. The high ceiling held a chandelier over a large, red table that could sit over twenty comfortably. The chairs were high backed with designs over the armrests and back. The floor changed from carpet to wood, smooth and shiny. The walls, a deep blue, seemed to make the doors stand out in stark comparison.

His mother sat by the head of the table, a smile blooming the moment she saw her son. "Darling, you're down early."

"Mother, is Dobby here?"

The smile she had slipped off. "No, Draco," she whispered. Her eyes were downcast. "He is no longer with us."

"What? Why?" His voice didn't raise, but the distress was still there. "He didn't do anything wrong!"

"He didn't, no. He followed our orders without complaint, without thought because he wanted to. Draco, this isn't something that I should tell you."

"You always have Father be the one to break the news to me, Mum."

She gave him a tiny nod, a sigh escaping her lips. "It's true. I have no wish to bring you pain, Darling, but it's also not my story to tell. Your father was there when it happened."

"Father let Dobby go?"

"Draco, you listen to what I have to say now." Narcissa rose gracefully from her seat before moving over to her son. "He did not mean to let Dobby go. It was a trick and the two of them had no choice."

"Father seems to have done many things without having a choice." Without waiting for his mother to reply, Draco turned on his heel and marched out.

He went to the nearest door that led outside and promptly exited. Taking a deep breath, he found himself in the garden.

Flowers of all kinds lived through magic. Bushes, trees, shrubs, twining paths, singing birds. Taking one of the paths, he strode through the trees. After five minutes, he turned left and got off the path.

The trees thickened for a little while before he entered an open field that was a perfect circle. The grass was green and plush, and Draco looked down at his feet in surprise.

In his hurry, he had forgotten to put on his socks and boots. The bottom of his slacks were dirty, and his button down silk shirt was dotted with sweat.

Without another thought he sat. He put his back against a tree, looking into the field. The sun had the grass shining, the wind making the blades sway back and forth.

Yet he did not have any urge to enter the grassy field. He hadn't in years. Not since he had started school at Hogwarts.

Exhausted, the boy closed his eyes. Mipsy was up beside him with a loud _pop_, causing him to jump. "I is sorry, Master Draco. But Master Malfoy is back and Mistress tolds me to tells you he is home."

"Thanks, Mipsy." Draco waved his hand and the elf left with a hurried bow.

Not even in his little haven was he truly alone. One never knew when someone else was just going to appear. His father had failed, miserably, with the task the Dark Lord gave him, and he was surely not pleased, wherever he was. No one knew if he was just going to show up one day and demand sanctuary at the Malfoy Manor like he once had.

The wind blew a bit harder, making the leaves rustle. Some of them came loose, fluttering to the ground, one managing to fall in Draco's hair.

It was... difficult... to keep taking down his mask and then putting it up every summer. At first it had seemed such an easy thing to do, but then it was becoming difficult to remember who he was and who he wasn't.

So he decided to keep up his mask - or a small portion of it - while he was still with his family. That way it wasn't as painful when he had to put it on again. They did have the diaries, after all. He would explain it.

They would understand.

Drifting off to sleep, Draco murmured, "Happy Birthday, Draco."

* * *

Another _pop_ brought him back to awareness, and away from the warmth of his dreams. "Master Draco, why is you sleeping here?" Dixon's voice was shrill with worry, and when Draco opened his eyes, all he saw were huge green bulbs. "Master Draco get sick he will!"

A small smile tugged at his lips, and the boy allowed it for a moment before squashing it. "Don't fret, Dixon. I'm heading in now."

The house-elf nodded, backing away from her youngest charge. She held out a cookie and gave a wide smile, "Cookie, sir?"

His stomach gave an uneasy flip, but he nodded. When he took the cookie from the elf, she gave a tiny bow before adding, "Master and Mistress Malfoy are worried of you. You not come in for long while."

"Tell them I'll meet them in the foyer, Dixon. I'll be there in about ten minutes."

"Yes, sir. Right away, sir!" With that the tiny elf was gone, leaving him at the edge of the field. He smiled at it sadly, knowing he wouldn't enter for a long while before turning back to the house.

The gardens were huge, going on for about a mile, so Draco wasn't even that far in. But he had never gotten past the field, never wanted to. He wasn't even sure if it counted as a garden since the house-elves nor his mother cared for the wild plants that grew around.

With a careless shrug, he stood up and dusted off his pants and giving his back a twist to help his muscles relax. With that, he took his time walking back to the mansion, even though he wanted to hurry. He wanted to yell at his father, to question why he had thought to let Dobby go - accidently or otherwise.

It took all ten minutes for him to stride into the room where his parents sat on the couch. Draco smiled at them when he found his father leaning against the armrest and his mother leaning against his chest, eyes closed as if sleeping.

"Mother. Father." He hated to interrupt them, but they were worried.

"Draco," Lucius said quietly, not moving his chin from where it rested on his wife's head. Narcissa didn't move, just kept on breathing quietly, face calm. "Cissa is asleep, but she told me you asked of Dobby."

"Yeah, I've been here for a few days, Father. Surely you didn't think you could keep it a secret?"

Lucius finally looked at his son, confusion in his eyes, "Draco, you no longer have to keep your mask up. For the time being, at the very least."

"I have to, Father," he murmured, _otherwise I'll go insane switching from one person to the next. I can't afford to make mistakes. _"The Draco Malfoy at school cannot slip, or all of this is for naught."

His father's eyes fell to the ground before he sighed. "Do you wish to know of Dobby?"

"I do. He was a good friend."

"Harry Potter tricked me into freeing him."

Draco's mind went blank. Harry... Potter made his father free Dobby? Why would he do that? He didn't have the right to take Dobby away.

"I... see. How did he manage that?"

"You remember the diary, of course?" When Draco nodded, the elder man replaced his chin back on his wife's head. "Potter was able to destroy it, and when he handed me the diary, he also gave me one of his... socks. I, of course, threw it to the side quickly - it was _filthy_," the look his father made would normally have had Draco in fits, but the boy couldn't move. "Dobby caught the sock, which meant he was free."

"Dobby _caught_ the sock?"

"Correct."

"Of course." Draco refused to show anything. "Is that all, Father?"

"You may go."

Giving one last nod, the blonde turned and walked out the way he came, shutting the door quietly behind him, so as not to wake his mother, barely catching the whispered, "Happy birthday, son."

Dobby caught the sock, which meant he had wanted to be free. That he didn't want to be with them anymore. Looking down in his hand, he saw the cookie that Dixon had given him earlier. Crumbs were clinging to his fingers, and the smell wafted up towards his nose.

Harry Potter was the cause of it, as was he. Slamming his door closed behind him, he crushed the cookie and tossed it out the open window. It was Potter's fault because he had to go _save_ people and creatures. Dobby was apparently mistreated to everyone who saw, but he wasn't really.

It was his fault for sending Dobby on that mission. If he hadn't sent him to keep an eye on Potter, than the other boy wouldn't have gotten the notion in his head to save Dobby. Then Draco would still have his friend.

He was pathetic. Draco scowled at himself in the mirror. He really was pathetic.

No actual friends to speak of, and the ones had at school did everything he wished because his father was closer to the Dark Lord than most other families.

He lost his only friend to someone he wished to be friends with himself. Pounding a fist into his wall, he cursed lowly under his breath.

Potter. Himself. Masks. Everything. Again and again he beat his hand against the wall, slowly, keeping his face calm as emotions raged under the surface.

Never letting anything out that wasn't in his control, Draco calmly backed away from the wall and went to sit on his huge, blue covered bed.

Harry had freed Dobby. Even with that in the forefront of his brain, Draco was already wondering what the boy wonder would do next, and if he could somehow help in a non-noticeable way.

His family owed Harry Potter, as did almost everyone else. And Malfoy's repaid their debts.

* * *

He stayed in his room for a few days. He ate what the house-elves gave him, he took his showers, did some of his homework, but continued to stay in his room. Draco would sometimes stare at his closet, wishing he could change into muggle jeans just for a day, but he refused to let himself.

_When it's all over_, he promised himself time and again.

So he made do with wizard clothing. Slacks and button ups made of silk. There were no blue jeans. There were no cotton shirts - though he preferred to wear the silk anyway.

Bringing a finger to the necklace, Draco just stared into his mirror.

He finally shook himself and turned away. Dobby was gone and he wasn't coming back, so Draco threw that to the back of his mind and locked it away with bolts and chains.

Opening his door, he went down the stairs and paused at the sight before him. His mother was spinning in circles in front of the doors to her and his father's rooms. A singing laugh escaped her lips as she spun faster and faster. "Oooh, he got out. I can't believe he got out. That absolute sneaky bastard got out!"

"Mother?"

"Oh, Dray!" Narcissa stopped spinning and swayed for a moment, regaining her balance. Her dress swirled around her for a moment longer before settling. "My cousin got of Azkaban!"

"He was let out?"

"Not really, Darling. Escaped is more like it." She skipped forward, a happy smile on her face that Draco couldn't help but give back. Looking at the top he read, _**Black Still at Large**_.

"Mum... shouldn't we be making sure he doesn't come here?"

"Oh, Darling, really now. He's my cousin." She waved a hand in the air. "Lucius had Dumbledore and Severus to turn to, I had Sirius. Sirius was always a man of his word." Looking at her son critically, she said. "I don't believe for an instant that he did what they say he did."

"Right, Mum." He gave her a tight squeeze, making her calm down. "I'm glad you're happy." Even though he wasn't sure who to believe. Though he was closer to believing his mother. He mentally held up a finger and said - to himself - _family is everything_.

"Yes yes, Dray, lets go down stairs for a while." Hooking her arm through her shorter companion's, she took off down the next flight of stairs, a grin still in place.

They made it to the dining room to find Lucius already sitting there, another copy of the _Daily Prophet_ in front of him. A cup of steaming coffee sat on the table, one of his hands cupped lightly around the handle.

When he heard the light footsteps, he looked up and smiled. "Draco, I'm glad to see you're here this morning."

"Of course, Father."

Throughout the rest of his stay at home, he perfected his half-mask. Never did he hurry from place to place, he didn't raise his voice, he did not complain about having to rise early, he did his homework without question. On the other hand, he remained kind to his family and the elves, he let actual smiles instead of smirks grace his features, and he let himself laugh, though only for a short while.

He also received his actual presents from Christmas and for his birthday: the newest broom - one he refused to take to school with him - a pouch that can hold anything, and a picture of his parents and him in Ireland before school ever started for him. Reminding him of better times before, and hopefully the better times ahead.


	5. Being Alone

A/N Urquhart and Vaisey are mentioned as last names, but no year, on the Harry Potter wiki, so I'm giving them first names so I can use them. The other people: Jasmine Cratier, Taylor Donturn, Loki Maltori, and Damion Shint I have made up for the purpose of having names in certain years.

Also, this year (third) will have two chapters, and the summer will have one. However, once their fourth year starts, there will be multiple chapters for each year. And then all the fun stuff - plot wise - will _finally_ come into play. :) Anyway, on with the story.

* * *

_My son,_

_Now that you are away from the manor, perhaps you will tell me why you have decided to keep at least part of your mask up. Truthfully, Draco. I know that you fear that it will slip at school, but why at home?_

_All that Cissa has done is worry for you since you have left, you know your mother. She is hoping that you are not eating too many sweets. Though why she deems it necessary for me to tell you when she can herself is beyond me. That woman will drive me insane one day._

_Soon a letter will come from us, and it will, of course, hold your permission slip to go to Hogsmeade. It seems that you left it on your bed instead of taking it with you._

_One last matter is about Severus Snape. I know that your mother and I have taught you Occlumency since you were young, however I have asked Severus to pick it up once again. We want to make sure your defenses are high if it is ever necessary._

_Please be well, Draco._

_Father_

* * *

Draco stood in front of Professor Snape's personal chambers on the second day back after classes. His arm was wrapped heavily, and he carried it as if he was in great pain. He knocked on the door in front of him.

Unlike what the other houses thought, the professor's chambers were actually on the ground floor, a little ways away from the staff room.

"Enter." The cold drawl of the professor had the boy opening the door and quickly shutting it behind him. There stood Snape in his dark robes, his familiar sneer in place, and his greasy hair falling limply around his face.

With a swish of the elder's wand, Draco felt something rising up around the room, coating every inch of the dreary walls. Minutes passed as Snape's black eyes surveyed everything. When he gave a nod, he put his wand back in his robes, and his sneer turned down into an almost there smile.

"Boy, what was with that Hippogriff?"

Giving a sigh, Draco stopped clutching his arm to crossed both in front of him. "It's not like I had much of a choice, did I? I couldn't act as if I _wanted_ to save the bird after I asked for it to attack me. Really, what else could I have done?"

Severus cocked an eyebrow, "Ask it to not attack you, for starters."

Draco sniffed, resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at his godfather. "Well, Sev, I couldn't do that, or people would start to wonder why Malfoy didn't make fun of Hagrid and his classes." Plopping regally into a chair, the thirteen year old smiled up sadly at the older man. "There's not much I can do that I want."

Severus nodded, not answering, though he wished there was something he could say. Living a life that was a lie sucked the energy out of you.

The boy that sat in front of him was drained, though he hadn't looked it when he had first strutted in.

"Now, Sev, what is this about you helping me with Occlumency? I know you have to be extremely well versed in it to get by the Dark Lord, but how does that affect me?"

A sad smile was all the answer he had before his mind was attacked. The little barriers that he had up were instantly broken down and memories flooded to the front of his mind.

He was a little boy with a cookie in hand, grinning up at his father, arms held high. His father laughing and bending to pick up the demanding boy.

Struggling, he tried to pull up his barriers.

The change of scene was swift. He now stood in front of Dobby, kicking him in front of Nott. Draco flinched back and tried to push Snape out, but the man just plowed forward.

Now he stood on top of the Astronomy Tower, looking down at the rocks below. His robes were billowing around him, his face impassive.

"NO!" Draco pushed Snape out of his head, finding himself on the ground. His face was beaded with sweat, his breathing coming out in pants. His fingers were clenched at his robes, glaring up at his professor.

"Draco, what was that last one?"

"It doesn't matter, Professor," Draco struggled back to his feet, his mind bringing up the shields he had started to create from the age of four. "Did you want to try again?"

"No," the cool voice was back, and the elder man was staring at his godson with a blank face. "That is all for tonight. All I wanted to teach you was that the Dark Lord will not wait for you to be ready. You walls will need to be up constantly. I will attack your mind at any given point. That includes during classes and meals. You must always be prepared." He turned to one of the only pieces of furniture in the room. The desk with papers neatly piled up. The couch sat in front of a fireplace that blazed. "Draco, it is not a bad thing to ask for help."

"Not at first, but it will be if I become accustomed to it. I refuse to start that trend." Draco stared at his godfather's back, a tiny frown in place. "I'm sorry, Sev, but I can't let anything happen to my family. I have to do some things on my own. This is one of them."

"Boy, you are only thirteen."

"Physically, sure," the boy shrugged even though it wouldn't have been seen. Turning around to face the exit, Draco strode towards it and placed a hand on the handle. "Sev, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"Impertinent brat."

Draco shot a grin over his shoulder, but gave a nod when he saw Severus staring at him. "Night, Sev, I'll see you tomorrow evening."

Then he turned and left the room before any more was said, the barriers falling as soon as the door opened.

Without a backwards glance, Draco stepped back into the hallway and strode back towards his dorm, his 'injured' arm held against his chest. He entered the dungeons, the lamps that were barely lit gave off only enough light to be able to see where one was going. The cracks in the wall zigzagged down the hallways with him. The portraits were already nodding off, though it couldn't have been past ten.

A smirk crossed his face when he saw first year Gryffindors heading his way. Leaning against the wall he caught himself about to cross his arms. "What are fresh meat doing down here?" His voice low, eyes cold.

The two boys hurriedly put the girl behind them. They hastily began to backtrack, but Malfoy merely followed them, his wand out in his 'free' hand.

"I asked a question."

"W-we got lo-lost." One of the boys mumbled, keeping his eyes downcast.

He shot off a mild hexing spell at them that got them rushing away from the elder boy, and to a different exit that would lead them to the entrance hall..

Wanting to bang his head on the wall, Draco gritted his teeth.

"Why, Drakie, you are so sweet to them."

Parkinson's voice came from behind him from the entrance to the common room. Refraining from rolling his eyes, Malfoy pushed past the irritating chit. "Parkinson, if you call me by that name again, I will hex you."

"Of course, Malfoy," but she said it in the same cooing voice that had him turning to glare at him, eyes cold as ice.

"Parkinson, desist with your persistance."

The pug-faced girl just gave him what she considered a smirk and flounced into the common room after he entered. With hardly a backward glance, he ignored the green-tinted common room, heading straight for his dorm room.

He picked up his journal and wrote:

_Draco,_

_This is the list to see who the necklace could possibly be warming up to. I'm going to start with everyone from my year and up to fifth year, simply because it has warmed every year and hasn't stopped yet. Only up to fifth year because no one in any higher grade would be caught dead with a younger year student. I have already taken names out that I know for sure aren't who I'm looking for. Pansy Parkinson and Theodore Nott for example. So with that..._

_Fifth year: Jasmine Cratier (female) and Lawrence Vaisey (male)_

_Fourth year: Torbin Urquhart (female), Taylor Donturn (female), Loki Maltori (male), and Damion Shint (male)_

_Third year: Daphne Greengrass (female), Millicent Bulstrode (female), Tracey Davis (female), Blaise Zabini (male), Gregory Goyle (male), and Vincent Crabbe (male)._

_Throughout the year I will slowly dwindle this down until I can figure out who is making my blasted necklace heat up. I'm hoping I can take a large chunk out of it at a time simply because this person might not show up while there are a lot of other Slytherin's around._

With a nod, Draco put his quill down and shut it, knowing it would still be in there later and he could change it as needed.

"How can you still use that notebook year after year, Malfoy?" Nott's voice echoed around him and when the blonde boy looked up, he saw the other boy with spiky black hair and calculating brown eyes standing at the doorway.

"My father picked it up this year, Nott." Somehow, he was still able to make Nott cringe a bit at his cold tone, even if Draco was sitting on his bed. "Malfoy's do not use the same thing twice. It's beneath us."

"Right," but the other boy's eyes were still narrowed even as he grabbed his bathing things and left.

When he was alone, Draco shut his curtains and fell on his back with a long, silent sigh.

The year was going to be long.

* * *

_My Darling Draco,_

_I want so much to say Dray at the beginning, but I fear the diaries wouldn't have any idea that it is to you. Perhaps we can change that over the summer?_

_Anyway, Darling, I miss you so much, and so does your father, though he might not say so in so many words. He's funny like that. One of the many things that I adore about him. I bet you don't want to hear about that, do you?_

_How is the year treating you? I know you said in one of your earlier entries that there's a Slytherin that the necklace is warming up to. Have you had any luck with figuring out who? I hope you're getting a good head start on it, anyways._

_There is one more thing I wish to tell you, but I'm not sure how you will take it. It's about Dobby. I suppose it can be taken as good or bad news, depending on how you feel. And no, Darling, I'm not going to tell you until you ask me to._

_Now tell me how everything is going on with Severus and your new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Remus Lupin. We went to school together and he was a very studious boy._

_All my love,_

_Mum_

* * *

He was back in the Come and Go Room. It looked almost exactly like it had before. The carpets were still a soft burgundy color. A fireplace with flames licking at the logs stood to the right of the door. The hammock seemingly attached to nothing swung in front of, beckoning for him to fall asleep in front of the view of an ocean. Pictures, photos, portraits, albums of his parents and himself were to the left, making him form a tiny smile.

When he turned to face the door - which had closed as soon as he had entered - was different. There were no longer books. Instead, a large board covered the wall, the door acting as a divider between two halves.

On the left read: _Draco / Dray_. On the right: _Draco Malfoy_. Across the top of the door had VS. in large, black letters.

His smile faded, and his wand was in his hand being twirled around his slim fingers. He had no idea why the board appeared when he hadn't asked for it. At least from what he remembered.

For the time being, he turned his back on the large board and went to the table, finding some books there. On top of his diary was a folded piece of paper, crumbled a little on the edges. Carefully picking it up, the parchment was rough. He opened it, his eyes scanning the short missive.

_Watch Miss Hermione. Secrets with her._

Scowling at the paper, Draco threw it on the table. Was that something else he required? Hints?

Furious for some reason unknown to him, he gave up on the idea of taking a catnap and stalked to the board and pointed his wand at the end that had _Draco Malfoy_ at the top. With a flick of his wrist he began his list:

_Fraud_

_Liar_

_Cheater_

_Cruel_

_Selfish_

_Prat_

_Heartless_

On and on the list went, his anger growing with it.

_Manipulator_

_Bigoted_

_Loathed_

_Scorned_

_Furious_

He couldn't stop, his mind never wavering from the words. As soon as one was spat upon the board, another came roaring out. Without realize it, he was shouting the words. His wand was slicing the air. His eyes darkening with his rage.

_Bitter_

_Spiteful_

_Disgusting_

_Vile_

_Controlling_

Draco froze at the last one, his wand slipping from his hand to clatter to the ground. The sound, so odd for a carpeted room, didn't jar him out of his daze.

Controlling. That's what Draco Malfoy was.

Taking a look around, he saw he was in a bare room. There was nothing but the door and the board. _Draco Malfoy's_ side was filled to the brim with words. _Draco / Dray's _side was empty.

The floor and walls were all wooden, oiled in black shadows. The only light came from above, from a single, floating candle that illuminated only the board and the words.

Draco Malfoy was slowly winning control.

Understanding why he needed the board, Draco made himself bend to pick up his fallen wand. He was losing sight of who he was. Slowly, so slowly that he hadn't noticed, Malfoy was becoming reality. How he ate, how he talked, how he looked, how he acted, how he everything.

Pointing his wand on the opposite side, he began to flick his wand hand, but stopped mid-flick. Who was he? Who was Draco?

Scared, he let himself wave his wand.

_Hidden behind the mask._

It seemed fitting, and he swore to himself he would figure out who he was again.

The room didn't seem to like that, though. It stayed the same except for a few things: the table appeared with his diary and the small note on top.

Tired, Draco abruptly turned and left, his brain already trying to figure out who he was when he wasn't hiding behind Malfoy.

* * *

_Father,_

_Working with Sev is difficult. I'm getting used to having my barriers up at all times. It was hard at first, and uncomfortable, but after awhile it's become second nature. I'm just glad he let me put some memories in the pensieve Mum had sent for me. You know how everyone has memories they want to keep to themselves, or so you've always said._

_Don't have much more time to talk, I keep getting weird looks from Nott. I believe I need to change the cover of the diary before he goes and snoops around in here, even if all he sees is some notes for classes. You know how we Malfoy's are to others. We always have the best, not last year's old news._

_Keep Mum and yourself safe,_

_Draco_

* * *

The first few months of school blazed past, taking them almost into December and Draco had just recently decided he wanted to know what his mother knew of Dobby.

A reply had yet to come in.

However, he did spend quite some time looking over his list of Slytherin's who could possibly be making his necklace warm. It was slowly receding, and Draco was making an effort to figure out who exactly was making it react.

Looking down once more, he re-read it to double check he had the names right before he went back out to the common room to see if it could be cut some more.

_Third year: Millicent Bulstrode (female), Tracey Davis (female), Blaise Zabini (male)_

With a nod, he stood up, grabbed his bag of books, and sauntered out of the room and into the common room. Since it was friday, they had a small break between Ancient Runes and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He glanced around his school mates, wondering which of the three he could trust.

Though, once he did know, how did he go about telling s/he everything? Wanting to bang his head against the door, he kept straight and left, leaving everyone else to follow.

On his tail were Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Bulstrode, Davis, and Zabini. Greengrass and Nott were talking in a far corner, not noticing that everyone was leaving.

"Wonder which crazy new creature we'll learn about this lesson," Parkinson whispered, trying to lean into Malfoy as she did so. "Drakie, what do you think?"

"I know you shouldn't be breathing in my space."

Pansy pouted, but she hooked her arm through Draco's. "Fine, fine, fine. But do you know what's going to be in today's lesson?"

Smirking, but not giving an answer, Draco led them up the stairs of doom. Whenever he laid a foot on a stair that moves, his instant reaction was to freeze before continuing on. If it had been only him under a disillusionment charm, he would have stayed plastered against the wall until it stopped.

It was yet another thing to distinguish between himself and what everyone else thought of him. However, it did nothing to help his mood as everything was beginning to blur together. No matter what he did to stop himself, Draco Malfoy was slowly sinking into who he was.

Giving an inaudible sigh, Draco was the first of the Slytherins to enter the classroom.

The lesson passed without a hitch. He and Parkinson gave snide remarks to the Golden Trio, getting back some glares and petty remarks like the ones they threw.

Lupin looked haggard and tired, but his eyes had been alight the whole time, enjoying the time with the students. When he had told everyone they could go, he also called for Harry to stay behind.

Giving a last sneer to the black haired boy, he called out, "It's no wonder Scarface is so good in Defense. His fame and glory do all the work for him."

Without waiting for a reprimand from the good-hearted teacher or a shout from Harry, the Slytherin's left. All of them were grinning from getting a rise out of the boy-who-lived.

All of them but Bulstrode and Zabini, who were just a head of the group.

Zabini gave a small wave before heading towards the library, and for once Bulstrode and Davis stayed with the main group. As the big group went down another staircase, the necklace cooled before he only felt the chain on his pale skin.

When they got to the dorms, Draco immediately left the group and went to his bed, grabbing his diary from his bag and dismissing the old entry of guessing who was the one the necklace warmed up for.

_Draco,_

_It's Blaise. Blaise is causing the necklace to heat up. But how do I even get to him without causing people to notice? At least I know who it is. I probably won't tell him anything, not for a while._

_I'll wait until I come up with ideas. Something else to think upon._

Finished, he turned the page and found a missive from his mother. Taking a deep breath, he read on, wondering why Dobby was so important.

_Dear Draco,_

_Your last message was short, and I would love to tell you right away what I have to say of Dobby, but I'll save that for last._

Here Draco mentally groaned and stopped himself from skipping straight to the end.

_I'm glad you're enjoying your time with Severus, although not the actual practice of Occlumency. It is a tough practice to understand, but you are doing brilliantly. I know you aren't doing as perfectly as you wish, but Darling, you are doing well for being thirteen. Please don't expect to see amazing results for another year or two. You can not rush Occlumency, nor do I wish you too. You miss too much when you move speedily._

_I'm doing well. Not much has changed since I last sent you a message. Though I'm sure you already know that._

_You're father has been called a few times, and he's saying that it seems He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has found a way back into a body. Not his own, but one that he alone controls. We don't know the exact details, or Dumbledore would know, and he and his people would end it before it began. Or he would wait to destroy the Dark Lord once and for all. I do not know what goes through Dumbledore's mind, nor do I wish too._

_The only reason I'm telling you this now instead of when we have more concrete answers is that I want you to be careful. Extremely careful, Draco. I want no harm befalling you, is that understood?_

_Now, about Dobby. I know this might come as a shock, but he is a lot nearer than you believe. Dumbledore has recruited him to work at the school. You can still call on him, Darling. You don't have to be alone in your Come and Go Room._

_Think about it. Please._

_Love you for always,_

_Mum_


	6. Fruitless Wishing

A/N This is still their third year. :) I also used a secret passage from the first Harry Potter video game because they said that there were lots of secret passages that a lot of students knew, and it's better for Draco this way. :p

Also, the Come and Go Room is in a dead end hallways because I want it to. Lol

* * *

_Draco Lucius Malfoy,_

_Severus has informed me of something. Something that you should have told me long before now. What were you _thinking_ when you and some other boys dressed up as Dementors? No, you weren't thinking at all! We will discuss this with your mother during the summer._

_Now, you haven't mentioned your Come and Go Room for a while. Are you spending enough time in there? I hope you are. It's good to step back and breathe every once in awhile._

_We've already discussed the business with You-Know-Who. I refuse to do so again. You know that there is only so much I can do._

_Do not forget our upcoming discussion,_

_Father_

* * *

Draco was sitting cross-legged on his bed, his emerald green curtains closed tightly around him. The cover of the diary - the once leather binding - was now a soft silver. He had reread the missive from his father numerous times, always skipping over the first paragraph.

A note was on his lap, one that he had gotten in the middle of February. One that read: _Watch Harry and Lupin_. After the Hermione note, even though he didn't trust it, he kept a careful eye on the bushy haired girl. After a couple of weeks, he was befuddled because she seemed to always be in two places at once.

He finally just accepted that Hermione was doing the impossible and to keep watch on the muggle born.

The note about Harry and the Professor had been interesting. So, the one time he could escape his 'friends', Draco had followed Harry - under the Disillusionment Charm, of course - to Professor Lupin's room. If he hadn't known better, when he had slipped in, the professor had looked right at him. But since that wasn't possible, Draco just shook it off as a happenstance.

What Harry was trying to accomplish seemed almost absurd. Trying to get a full blown Patronus to work? Draco just shook his head in wonder.

So he did what he could to get Harry where he needed to go. What he, Flint, Crabbe, and Goyle did was to put Harry in an 'actual' scene with Dementors to see if perhaps he would be able to get the full Patronus that the black haired boy wanted.

It worked out for everyone, to some extent. Flint, Crabbe, and Goyle had their laughs and were satisfied that they had freaked Potter out enough to attack them - though they were scared barmy at having a blast of light attacking them, even if they would never admit it. Harry had a stronger Patronus than he started out with. Draco... well, Draco felt he finally did some good.

Now he was gazing at the Hermione note, frowning at it. There were a few things he could come up with, but he felt like he was missing _something_. The other ideas didn't make any sense.

She didn't have a twin, there wasn't a known spell that could duplicate herself, and he didn't think she could cast that strong of an illusion. Stuffing the note in his diary, he put the three year old book under his pillow as he gracefully rose from his bed.

Pushing his tiredness away, he entered his bathroom. With a flick of his wrist there were clean clothes folded neatly on the counter. Stripping was quick work, and the shower was soon on.

If he could have, Draco would have stayed under the warm rain. He would have let his muscles relax. He would have sighed, and fallen asleep.

But that wasn't meant to be, so he straightened up and left the stall. Drying quickly, he was in his school uniform and in the common room before any other soul. It was the only time he had to himself, but even then it was before he had to go see Severus.

He was used to having the man trying to force his way into his mind, so he usually enjoyed the time with his godfather even if the experience wasn't that great. With his school bag on his shoulder, he found Parkinson sleeping on the couch curled up in a tight ball.

Not caring why she was on the couch, he had his wand out and pointing at the girl. With a swish of his wand, and a murmur, a light escaped his wand and encircled the girl. Her once fair skin turned a light shade of blue, making her look sickly. However, the spell only lasted an hour, and he wasn't sure if anyone would awaken in time to see her. It did give him satisfaction to finally curse the girl.

With a nod, he turned and left the Slytherin Dungeon and walked the few corridors to Professor Snape's office. He pushed back the urge to shudder as he went down the deserted halls, the portraits all staring at him.

A brisk "enter" came when he knocked on the large wooden door. With a shove, it was opened, and closed as soon as Draco was out of its way.

Spells went up and shimmered on the dreary walls. Flames licked the logs they sat upon. Snape looked down his hooked nose at his godson, a wan smile in place.

"Well, Sev, what's -" Before he even had a chance to finish his sentence, his professor was already attacking his walls. He pushed thoughts to the front of his mind: hate for the boy-who-lived, disgust of mudbloods, pride in his station, disdain for how Hogwarts was ran. Yet even as he thought these things, he could feel the walls slowly crumbling around his real thoughts and desires, his precious memories.

But then Severus was out and staring at the perspiring boy in front of him. "You are getting better. Your walls aren't falling as quickly, and it's more difficult to get to your true thoughts."

A small grin was all that Draco managed before sitting in front of the elder man's desk. "That was a warm welcome."

"Warmer than the Dark Lord's will be."

"Mmm," Draco stared around the room, eyes flickering from different bookshelves and cauldrons. "Sev, why are we in here today?"

"A private lesson with an imbecile before breakfast."

"Ah." He looked down at his hands, his fingers twitching even as the digits twined together.

"Boy, stop dawdling. Ask me your question."

Looking up in surprise, Draco mentally slapped himself before biting his lip. "Sir, is it possible to be in two places at once?"

The greasy-haired man lowered his eyes, "There are only a few ways that can happen. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious. It's been bugging me because I can't remember it. I feel as though I should."

"Your mother used one once, when you were younger. I'm surprised you remember even a little bit of that."

"Used what?"

"A Time-Turner. It allows the user to go back in time. However, the user can not run into himself or herself for the chance of going mad."

"That makes sense..." Shaking his head to clear his muddled thoughts, he tried to think about what he remembered of a Time-Turner. Nothing came up, but it sounded familiar. "Did Father teach it to me before?"

"He spoke of it once or twice, yes."

With a nod, Draco placed his left ankle on his right knee. "Sev, did you hear what's most likely going to happen to the Hippogryph?"

Cool, black eyes locked on his. "I have."

"Is there no way way around it?" Draco looked into the fireplace, a frown marring his smooth skin. Eyebrows were drawn low, as if a solution would just pop up in his lap. "It was barely a scratch, after all. The beast doesn't deserve to die because of that."

"A beast, Draco?"

He waved a hand, "He isn't a human, Severus. He's a creature, a magical one, but still a creature nonetheless. He is a beast, but even they do not deserve to be executed for something not completely their fault."

"The only other answer is for your family to drop their masks."

"No," Draco sighed. "The Dark Lord is coming. He's almost found a way to come back, Father's sure of it."

"I am well aware of that, Draco."

Frowning at Severus, Draco stood, flinching only slightly when his godfather tried to enter his mind. However, it didn't last as long as the first, and he was soon by the door. With a hand massaging his head, Draco turned to Severus. "If that is all, Sev?"

The man nodded once, as he continued to sit behind his desk. "Do not forget the Hogsmeade trip is tomorrow, boy."

With a hand on the knob, Draco stilled. "Is it true that Sirius Black was here in Hogwarts?"

"Do not ask foolish questions, boy." The hard, cold voice of the professor was back. "Do not mention that name again."

"Of course, Professor." Without waiting for a reply, he opened the door, feeling the wards crash down.

A boy, a first year by the looks of it, was standing to the side, rubbing his arms. Hazel eyes flickered right then left before noticing Draco. The boy shrank in on himself, pretending to be a part of the wall.

Malfoy smirked down at him, "Seems like Professor Snape is in a foul mood. Do pester him, I would enjoy watching a funeral."

No more words spoken, Malfoy sauntered towards the Slytherin Dungeon. Face relaxed except for the small sneer, he entered the Common Room where he was immediately the center of attention.

Without any mental sigh or breath, he launched into the story of a Hufflepuff boy who nearly wet himself in fear of Draco and Professor Snape.

* * *

_Mother,_

_Nothing is wrong. Nothing is out of the ordinary._

_I'm fine. So please stop worrying about me - yes I know you're my mother, but still!_

_There hasn't been any real time to visit the Come and Go Room. And no, I have not called on Dobby. I don't have any need to. I probably won't need to. Remember, Dobby caught the sock on purpose, Mum. I don't want to force him into anything he doesn't want._

_Please, I don't wish to speak of Dobby again._

_Schools been interesting, I suppose. It's still school. Nothing changed there. Though you were right, asking Severus about Black did indeed get him in a grouchy mood. I feel terribly for the first year Hufflepuff that went in afterwards._

_I found something out, though. Hermione has been using a Time-Turner. Remember me telling you something strange was happening around her? Well, it was her being in two places at once. Sev told me that you used it a few times when I was young. Was I involved, somehow? I'm not sure why, but the Time-Turner sounds familiar._

_That's all for now, I suppose._

_Love,_

_Draco_

* * *

After a day of classes, Draco steeled up his nerves and cast a quiet spell on his bed. The blankets filled to look like he was still sleeping, a blonde head could be seen, though not his face. If Nott woke up in the middle of the night, there would be no suspicion.

The spell was only to last six hours, making it disappear around six, which was the time he left to see Sev. Everyone knew Draco was brilliant at Potions, and also knew that Severus was his godfather.

No one would be the wiser.

After he penned the note to his mother, he stayed awake. The dark ceiling continued to play with shadows, although there was no light to make it do so, but magic was magic. At one point, he had even swished his wand at the nearest wall to him and watched as the stone wall turn into a see-through window.

Usually, watching things swim by and the water move helped lull him to sleep. But even that did nothing, and even though he was exhausted, sleep wouldn't claim him.

So there he was, casting a disillusionment spell on himself, and heading out of his room, the common room, and into the deserted hallways.

Staying against the walls, he moved his way through the dungeons, ears open to any sound. Every little breeze was Mrs. Norris sneaking up behind him. Every whisper of a ghost was Filch moving in his direction.

Eventually he got to the Entrance Hall, and went towards the Grand Staircase. He only had to get to the fourth floor, go to one of the study rooms, and open the book case. Then he can take the non-moving staircase straight to the seventh floor.

Moving slowly, Draco moved to the foot of swiveling staircases. He started on up. He was fine for the first two flights, but then the third moved. He plastered himself against the railing, his fingers turning white from holding the railing too tightly.

Draco continued as soon as the stair stopped. He rushed to the fourth floor platform and walked for a while before he found the right room. He ignored the portraits and their snoozing. As he entered the study room, he heard a soft _meow_.

Snapping around, he saw Mrs. Norris staring right at him, never wavering if he moved slightly. "Shit," Draco fled into the room and pulled the right book from the bookcase, opening the secret passage.

When he entered, the entrance closed behind him. Giving a deep sigh, he looked at the spiraling staircase. That was pretty much it. The stone walls just went straight up. No other passages, no other detours, no other signs of life. No ghosts. No portraits. No annoying cats.

No longer worried about the stairs moving on him, he started upstairs at a sedate pace. Hands in pockets, Draco just enjoyed the walk, thanking Merlin that he had heard of the passage. As Malfoy, he had no need to ask for them, it was just assumed he knew all of them. The rumors weren't far off, he did know quite a few, but not all.

Up and up he went. There were no windows, just a smooth surface. The railing was a polished wood that shined. The steps were cool marble, though. It should have been an odd mix, but the bottom of the handrail and steps were moulded together so that the two seemed to flow into each other.

When he got to the top of the stairway, he walked through the arch. It was around fifteen feet tall, a dark cherry color, designs of magical creatures adorning it, and it was difficult to tell what it was made of.

Without giving it much thought, Draco went through it and turned an immediate right, almost running face first into a wall. Placing a hand on the stone, he jolted back in surprise when he saw a hallway appear. The image melted away as soon as he was no longer touching the wall. After a seconds hesitance, he replaced a single finger and the hallway reappeared.

Focusing, he could see that the wall was still there, it was just letting him see _through_ it without being able to be seen.

Across the hall and to the left was the fat lady, sleeping in her pink silk dress. But it wasn't her that had caught his attention. No, it was the two security trolls that were strolling up and down the hallway as if there wasn't a problem in the world.

His jaw twitching, he backed up with a hand massaging his forehead. The only true way he could not draw attention to himself was to go down the steps, go back to the Grand Staircase, and then head _back_ up _those_ stairs and then head peacefully to the left corridor of the seventh floor.

By the time he got back to the moving stairs, he wouldn't have the nerve to go to the room. He was tempted to head back to his dorms before he even saw the trolls. Luckily, though, they didn't depend on their sense of smell as much as they did on their sight and hearing.

Which was both bad and good news.

Taking a deep breath, he taped himself on the top of his head, reinforcing the disillusionment spell. With that, Draco hit the wall with his wand in a certain way and, thankfully, the wall slid open silently when neither of the trolls were looking.

As soon as his body was free from the wall, it shut and he was in the hallway with two trolls with huge clubs. Keeping his breathing calm, he took slow, deliberate steps. He had made it to the end of the hallway when his foot scraped against the stone floor.

Both of the trolls looked up, beady, cold eyes zeroing in on him. He saw both of their ears twitch. Their clubs were clenched tightly in their grasps.

Giving up, Draco fled, cloak billowing around him as he ran. The left corridor was only a few hallways away, and he didn't hear either of the trolls after him. Maybe they stayed in their designated places.

He skidded around the last corner when his heart stopped. Loud thunks were following him, and he realized that they weren't running. He understood why, but as he paced in front of the Come and Go Room he didn't care.

As the door appeared, so did the trolls. Both turned the corner with deadly, ghastly grins upon their faces. Yellow fangs were bared and drool slipped from their open maws.

Slipping inside, Draco was infinitely glad he knew of the room or he would have been dead meat. The Come and Go Room was in a corridor that ended in a dead end. With the two trolls blocking the only exit out, there would have been no escape.

Heaving a couple of deep breaths, he was ever grateful for the room he was in, even if he hated it.

The room hadn't changed since he had last been in there. The walls and floor were still wooden, coldness seeming to seep out of it. The floating candle high above his head seemed to give light only to the words that covered the board. And the table; the table that held his diary even though he had left it in his room again.

The diary that held pieces of him that no one but his family knew.

He still didn't understand who he was without Malfoy. He had spent his whole life with his mask, and it was weird thinking he could be someone who wasn't infected by Malfoy. But he hated who he had to be.

He stood staring at the board, glaring at the right side covered with vile words. Then he stared at the left, still at a loss.

Draco didn't understand the need to come back, to prove to himself that he knew the difference. He didn't, and to hell with the room for showing him that.

A phrase popped to mind, and, with a flick of his wrist, it was written on the left: _Family is everything_.

Simple and the truth. Malfoy wouldn't do what Draco was. Malfoy would expect everyone to fall to their knees and give him everything he thought he deserved.

With a sigh, exhaustion hit him like a bludger.

Turning around, he was prepared to just slip to the ground and sleep. But there, across the room, was the hammock filled with pillows and blankets. Grinning, Draco trudged over and fell ontop of it, snuggling in. Allowing himself to draw the blankets over his head for the first time in two years, he let himself fall to sleep without wondering why the room gave him the hammock.

* * *

_Father,_

_I'm sure Sev has already owled you, but in case he hasn't, I'll fill you in on what happened a few days ago. Harry seems to have a knack of being in places that he isn't supposed to be. On the Hogsmeade trip, Malfoy was egging on Weasley when all of a sudden mud hit me on the back of my head. (The mud was in my hair for an hour, Father!) Anyway, as the two oafs and Malfoy were trying to figure out who threw it, more came flying around, and finally Harry's head was floating there._

_It was plain weird, and slightly terrifying. You can't do something like that under the disillusionment charm, or any other charm that I know of. I talked to Sev after Professor Lupin and Weasley saved Harry from getting detention. Oh, Father, you should have seen Sev's face. He was _livid_ that he didn't have a chance to punish Harry. (You nor him have ever explained to me why Severus seems to hate Harry so much.)_

_That's been the most excitement here lately besides Black getting through that knight portrait and the attack on the Fat Lady._

_I have already talked to Sev on the matter, but I still wish to ask. What of the Hippogryph? Is there no chance of the committee allowing it to live? I still don't believe it deserves to perish for something I did. But if it must die, then so be it. If it must happen, make sure it isn't public, please. I have no desire to see it's demise._

_How is Mother doing? I believe she's mad at me for not believing her when it comes to Black. But he had, according to almost everybody, betrayed his best friend and his best friend's wife. What is your opinion, Father?_

_Draco_

* * *

Parkinson was attached to Draco's arm, and it was all he could to do to not curse the witch. She was smart academically, but when it came to people, she was as clueless as the youngest Weasley.

"Well, Drakie, are you?" The annoying chit had his attention again as they made their way onto Hogwarts Express. "Surely your father was able to get tickets."

"Pansy, your whining is grating on my nerves. Of course my father acquired tickets, and no he didn't get extra. He and my mother felt no need as it is a family event."

Draco led the girl into an empty compartment. Even as he sat beside her, Zabini and Nott entered and sat in front of the two. For a moment, Zabini glared at the girl for her apparent rudeness, but then went to staring out the window. For what everyone could tell, ignoring everyone and everything except for what he saw.

Their luggage, which had already been sent ahead, was now in the overhead holdings. A few minutes later, filled with idle chatter between Nott and Parkinson, the train started moving onwards.

Hours passed with silence, as it was apparent that the white-blonde haired boy had no desire to speak. And since they feared his father and himself for their power, they wished to get in his favor. In this case, with not speaking.

It wasn't very often that Draco had silence outside of the Come and Go Room. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep, but that wasn't to be.

With a nod to the two in front of him, he gracefully rose to his feet, careful not to wake the sleeping girl. Spending less than a second to study her, he decided that she didn't look bad when she was sleeping. It might have been because she wasn't talking.

Crabbe and Goyle made to follow him as Draco left the room, but he merely waved them away. Alone, Draco walked through the train, peeking into different rooms from the corner of his eyes.

In one of the last compartments, he found the Golden Trio. He looked up and down the hall, seeing he was alone, and took a chance to take a longer glance in. Weasley was holding out a tiny... owl thing to a cat - why he would do so, Draco had no idea - while Hermione was chuckling. Harry, on the other hand, merely looked amused before he went to reading a note in his hand.

With a harsh growl that only he could hear, Draco spun around and stormed back to his compartment.

Any younger student shied away from him when the blonde stalked past them. Some, when they saw him coming, fled into the nearest compartment. The two scowling hulks by his door took a step back when they saw the silent snarl on Draco's face, but then they blinked stupidly when it disappeared.

He gave them a quirked eyebrow, and they shuffled away so he could enter. Even as he sat beside Parkinson again, he pushed the jealousy away.

It would not do him good to have fruitless wishes.


	7. Chaos

A/N Alrighty, after this chapter - the fourth year summer - there will be multiple chapters for each year. W00! Since it is a Draco fic, this story is going to deviate from the books even more so than it already is. There might be some OOC from some characters, but it's a fanfic, so it's almost impossible not to have it. Just so you know. :D Also, I have no idea what they would eat... So, yeah, muggle food for the win! I have also used a few quotes from the book.

* * *

"Draco," Narcissa stuck her head into her son's room, finding him sitting on a chair. His hair was in front of his face, hands clasped in his lap. His diary lay open on the table beside him, and she could see his fingers were knotted together so tightly they were white.

"Yes, Mother?" The voice, quiet and hard, made her heart break. She stepped into the room, heading straight towards her son. Kneeling in front of him, she tried to grasp his hands in hers, but he gently shook her off.

Finally he opened his eyes and stared at her, all emotion locked away. "It's not good for you to hold it all in, Dray."

"Mother, it was what I was taught since I was young. It's what has helped us survive." Draco sighed, finally allowing his mother to drag him out of the chair and into her arms. His arms didn't wrap around her, but just hung limply by his sides. His face didn't bury itself in her shoulder, but stared at the wall.

"Draco, please."

Draco squeezed his eyes shut, shackling all his roaring emotions that lay in him. Anger at his father for answering the call. Worry about what would happen to him when he got to where he had to go. Pain when he knew there was nothing he could do to help. Frustration that nothing they did seemed to make any difference at all.

Ordering his arms to obey, he finally gripped his mother in a tight hug. He held her close as he felt her tears on his once impeccable shirt. He shuttered his own emotions away while she clung to him.

Finally she stood, and there was no sign of her tears. She stood, a tight smile in place as she helped Draco to his feet. "What are you feeling, Draco? Don't turn me out." Her small hand gripped his chin, and she had to hold back more tears when she saw he was nearly her height.

"Too much," he whispered. "I always feel too much." Catching himself, Draco went over the diary and closed it with a snap. "It is just like Father to not send a missive."

Narcissa said nothing more as the two left Draco's room, heading down to the parlor room. Down some stairs, through some halls, around some corners. They eventually got to where they wanted to go, and entered.

Three chairs placed in a semicircle were the main focus of the room, sitting in front of the fire. His mother took the one in the middle, gracefully sinking into the plush cushions. She patted the one to her left. Instead of moving, Draco stood stock-still. "Draco -"

"Do not 'Draco' me, Mother." Finally his frustration came through and he tugged on his hair. "I don't want to do this anymore! Pretending to be this cruel, adolescent boy hurts. Everyone hates me! Dobby left me! And for what? Father got called to the Dark Lord's side! We don't know what's going to happen to him! I don't want to lie and cheat and act and manipulate! I just want to be Draco!"

Narcissa was the color of wax. Her eyes closed, she sucked in a tiny breath. "Draco -"

"No!" Draco was pacing, hands scratching at his scalp. "Mother, I don't even _know_ who Draco is even more! It's more like _Malfoy_ is becoming me and I don't like Malfoy!" Draco turned his pale, blue-gray eyes on his mother. "I don't want to hide anymore, I don't want to be _him_ anymore. I just want to be me before he's gone and I lose whoever I used to be."

"Draco, you listen to me this instant. You will stop this now." Gliding back to her feet, the woman in the blue dress marched up to her son. Her long, slender fingers gripped his chin and forced his head up. "Your Malfoy mask, he wouldn't be pacing. He wouldn't be hurting his hair or his head. He would be concerned that he has a wrinkle somewhere on his clothing. But Draco, Draco is the one pacing, the one shouting, the one who's worried. The Malfoy mask wouldn't dare in case his father and mother retaliated."

Calming down, Draco slumped his shoulders. "Yes... yes, you're right. But it doesn't make anything better."

"You are my son. I know you. You wake up every morning as late as you possibly can. You prefer to take a shower in the morning. You like to smile. You like to eat too many cookies when I'm not looking. You would befriend a muggle-born. You befriended house-elves." She patted his cheek until he looked up at her. "You, my son, will never truly become the Malfoy mask."

Even when he went to answer, a tingle went up his spine. Someone came through the wards.

"Father," Draco murmured, rushing out of the room with his mother hot on his tail. The two raced through the mansion. They swerved around corners, dashed to the first floor, and skidded to a stop in front of the floo room.

Yanking the door open, the two stood frozen to the spot. Narcissa only for a second before she sprang into action.

Lucius was sprawled on the ground. Matted hair lay around him, seeped in blood. Thin lips were pressed into a tight line. Eyes were scrunched up tightly, pain etched across his face. His body trembled, his muscles bunched tight. Fingers clenched and released again and again.

"Draco," his mother's voice snapped him out of his daze. He turned wide eyes to her, blinking owlishly. Taking a deep breath, she said more calmly, "Darling, your father's in a lot of pain right now. Go into the next room and get Dipsy to grab some warm blankets. We can't let him go into shock." Even before Draco moved, she focused on her husband, wand in hand. "Lucius, I'm going to fix you up. You're with us now."

A low groan was the only answer she had, though his body relaxed and his fingers lay limply by his side.

"Now, Draco."

In a fluid movement, the boy fled the room. Yet the image of his father followed him. "Dipsy," he croaked, voice barely audible.

"Yes, Master Draco? What cans I be doing?" This elf, unlike Dobby, had a pillowcase for its top and bottom.

"Get me some warm blankets." As the elf bowed, Draco added hurriedly, "and some soup. Well, broth more likely."

"Of course, young master." With a _pop_ Dipsy was gone, leaving Draco alone. There wasn't anything to do, and he had no intentions of going back in the other room. And the only way out was into the floo room.

Giving in, he paced a little. There were no eyes on him, watching his every move. His hand was in his hair, tugging at the locks. If his father had only left the Dark Lord, they wouldn't be in the mess they were in. If only they had left the country. If only they didn't feel indebted to Harry Potter.

Anger boiled under him. At his father; at Dumbledore who still used his father as he would surely use Draco; at his mother for letting it continue; at himself for not standing up to anyone and just obeying; at Potter because he jumped to conclusions and never searched for reasons beyond his opinions.

Reaching out, he grabbed a picture off the table and hurled it at the wall. Tiny pieces scattered everywhere, the photo torn.

Then, in the next instant, everything fitted itself back together and put back in its rightful spot.

"Sir," a tiny squeak had him turning around. He fought for control and soon his breathing evened. The rage he felt being chained back so it wouldn't escape again.

"Yes, Dipsy?" Deep, steady breaths. He didn't want to hurt an innocent creature. Deep, steady breaths. Clenching his fists, he turned and gave the elf a strained smile. "Do you have what I asked for?"

"Yes, sir." There was a bundle in one of her tiny hands and a platter with a bowl of soup and a glass of... something in her other. "Where would Dipsy be putting this?"

Draco gestured to the table and Dipsy hurriedly, but efficiently, placed the platter on the wooden top. The round eyes flickered to the couch, and when the white-blonde hair boy nodded, the house-elf quickly patted the quilt smoothly on the surface.

Not two seconds after the elf backed away Narcissa came into the room. Lucius was floating next to her, twitching, his hands trailing across the floor. As soon as his father was tucked in, Draco escaped.

* * *

It was days later that Draco would even hold a conversation with either of his parents. It was one of the few times he let his childishness come out full throttle. He had even stashed his diary back in his trunk so he wouldn't have to deal with his parents nagging at him. During meals he sat with a scowl in place and ignored whatever his parents said.

They, for the most part, let him stew and think.

But he had enough of the quietness.

He took a quick shower before heading down to the large dining room. He kept his eyes trained forward, his motions quick. Not once did he stop to talk to his ancestors like he would have.

As he entered the room, both his parents eyes drifted to him before snapping back to each other. Sighing, Draco sat near them instead of moving to the opposite end of the long table. The chandelier swung happily, a slight humming came from the walls as if in approval.

Giving everything a frown, he turned to his parents who were watching out of the corner of their eyes.

"I'm sorry for not speaking to either of you." Draco desperately wished to place his elbow on the table so he could hide his face, but he didn't. Instead, he faced his parents as they turned fully to him.

His father was pretty much back to how he was before. The only difference was the haggard look he still carried and the way his eyes shifted back and forth. Even though he was not wearing his own mask, Lucius gave his hand a small, familiar movement and Draco calmed a little more.

"It is understandable, Draco." Lucius pulled small portions on his plate. He started first with scrambled eggs and toast with a tiny bit of jam on it. Even as he spoke, he darted a quick look at the door before resting his gaze on his son again. "I was indisposed and you weren't ready for the sight of me like that. However, there are a few things that you must be aware of before we speak of other things."

"Of course, Father." Draco couldn't help but add, "It's about the Dark Lord, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so, son. What we have feared has come. He may not have his body back, but he does have a... body. It is more like... a small child's body, but not quite." He gave a small twitch, which Draco took for as a shudder. "It had no hair, and seemed to have skin like scales a deep red-black color." Seeming to catch himself, Lucius shook his head, his hair falling over his shoulders. "You have no need to hear that, my apologies. The main part is that he's back and if all goes to plan by the end of the year, he will have his own body back. One he can control and wreck havoc with."

Squishing back the urge to wrap his arms around himself Draco nodded. "Well, we have been planning on this for years. What happens next, Father?"

"If he does come back, you and your mother will go into hiding. I will have, of course, 'murdered' you two so you won't be followed."

Without any thought, the boy jumped to his feet. "You mean everything I've been doing for the last fourteen bloody years have been for nothing? No! I will not just -"

"Draco Lucius Malfoy!" Narcissa's voice stopped her son's rant as his voice got louder and louder. "You _will_ do as your father says. It's worse than what we had planned!"

"What do you mean?" He refused to sit and just opted to glare at his parents.

"He is very angry with us," Lucius murmured. "Well, mostly me. Cissa never did take the mark. However, I didn't go searching for him when he called us to him. I've ignored him for the past three years. He does not take well to people ignoring him. He has already killed some of his followers. I have a feeling that he's planning on making me suffer in other ways as I was in the Inner Circle. I'm almost positive he will hurt you and Cissa to get his point across." Matching gray eyes met each other. The younger's were filled with defiance as the elder was filled with sorrow. "I will not put either of you through that."

Draco sat, fists clenched tightly, his muscles all tense. "Won't he know you're going to do that?"

"Possibly. However, I will hold the case that you and your mother were a threat to the Dark Lord and that I disposed of you before it became an issue. I will show a memory of Cissa leaving the Manor to Diagon Alley and that I followed disillusioned because I have started to doubt her wish to be with me and part of the Dark side. I will show her speaking to one of the Order members, wishing to be a spy against me, as long as they hid you safely away as that was your wish. I will then proceed to tell him that -"

"NO!" Too furious to even hold himself back, Draco pounded the table. Food flew into the air before everything just vanished. "I refuse to," he hissed. "I will not go hide away while you will most likely die for lying to the Dark Lord."

"I have lied to him and survived."

"Not like this, you haven't. You are insinuating that if he does not... get me, than you will be killed. I won't allow that to happen."

"Draco, I have been fighting for your survival, and I will not allow you to put yourself into the position to be tortured. I will not have it!" Lucius rose, magic crackling around him. "You _will _leave if it becomes necessary. You _will_ obey me on this. You _will_ not be tortured so I may live. Is this understood?"

Draco clenched his teeth, refusing to answer.

Understanding, his father rested back in his chair, his magic flowing back into him again. "As I was saying, I will tell the Dark Lord that I flew into a rage and killed you both for even thinking of betraying us."

Still refusing to answer, his father looked to his wife and signaled for her to start. "Alright, Dray, remember something that we mentioned before Lucius had his... incident?"

"The Quidditch World Cup, yes." Forcing his voice through his closed throat was more difficult than he thought. "I know, we're going." Standing up, Draco stared blankly at his empty plate. "I'm no longer hungry. Excuse me."

His parents did nothing as he strode out of the room.

* * *

Draco stood beside his parents stood in the entrance room. They were preparing to leave to head for the game, waiting for an announcement to head out. The only reason they didn't just apparate out was that the anti-apparation ward was back up, and the only reason it had been down was because Lucius would need to apparate straight in.

The fireplace shot a few green flames. Narcissa grabbed the floo powder and tossed it in before entering and gave a shout. Then she was whisked away. Draco followed with Lucius right behind him. The three stood in a small building, only to be ushered away so another family could come through.

Out in the open, the sun was up to the noon mark and there were thousands of people heading towards the gigantic stadium.

"Let us find our seats." Lucius, cane in hand, strode towards the opening with his wife and son not far behind. For them, it was easy for the Malfoy's to walk. Lucius would merely pat his cane on somebody, and when they turned, they quickly shrank away from the glare shot their way.

At the entrance, they flashed their tickets and strode right in. The poor girl did nothing but nod with wide blue eyes.

The three strode up the stairs not far away, the floor covered in plush purple carpet. Lucius took the first left and tapped a stone before they entered a box. An entryway opened to another stairwell, except with no one else crowding the stairs. As the three entered, the wall shut behind them and the family continued on up.

After countless minutes, another stone wall stood before them. Again, Lucius tapped a stone and it opened to the top of the main stairwell, a door to the left. Once again, as they left the lonely stairs, the entrance closed silently.

Even though it was a smaller box than most, there were around twenty-five other people in there. Draco didn't care for who was in there, just that he didn't wish to speak at all. There was Fudge talking to the Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione. A Bulgarian man was standing not far away, a bemused expression on his face.

"Ah, Fudge," Lucius held out a hand to the Minister of Magic, and waited until Fudge shook it. "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?"

He allowed his mind to wander after giving a polite nod to the minister. There was a moment when there was only silence, and he looked over at his parents to find his father looking down his nose at Hermione, Lucius' mouth curved up.

Moving to their seats, Draco shot a contemptuous glare at the Golden Trio before sitting between his mother and father. For a while he refused to look at the ground; he was too far up. It would have been different if he was on the broom. He would have been in control. If he fell from where he was, there wouldn't have been anything to stop his fall.

He was watching the blackboard that read: _Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans - A Risk With Every Mouthful!_ when it was wiped clean to show _BULGARIA: O, IRELAND: 0_. It changed as Ludo's voice, loud and booming, shouted around the arena, "Ladies and gentlemen... welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup! And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce... the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

Everyone on the right side of the arena rose to their feet and thundered their applause, all of them wearing scarlet.

"Veela," Narcissa whispered, eyes riveted on the ground. Draco, finally daring a look, stared at the ground. Beautiful women that couldn't possibly be human strode onto the field. Their skin shone like the moon and their hair, a golden-white in color, seemed to blow around them even though there was no wind. "Cover your ears. Now!"

Obeying, Draco did so in a way that wasn't blatantly obvious.

The Veela had started to dance, twining their bodies every which way. They danced alone, they danced in pairs, they danced together as a mob. After a while, Draco took his eyes off the Veela, becoming dizzy from the height.

Instead his eyes went to the other, much larger, group. He made to get up when he saw Harry standing near the edge, gripping the railing, and beginning to move to jump off. But his mother had placed a hand on his thigh to keep him in place.

After another second, she motioned that it was safe to remove his fingers from his ears. Doing as she says, he was soon bombarded by the sound of shouts and yells for the Veela to keep dancing.

Draco couldn't stop the smirk from crossing his face when he saw Harry and the Weasleys frown when they were forced back into their seats. Even from where he sat a ways away, he could hear Hermione huff out in annoyance, "_Honestly!"_

"And now," Ludo boomed into the air, "kindly put you wands in the air... for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

Then, swarming into the stadium, was a green and gold comet. As it went around the arena, it split into two different comets as they went streaking towards the two different goal posts. As each hit the middle hoop, a large rainbow connected across the field. The crowd was awed, as if they were watching fireworks.

Then the rainbow faded and the two comets reunited to make a large shamrock, which rose directly upwards to fly across the stands.

Gold coins began to rain down on them, and it wasn't difficult to hear Ron's excited shout, "Excellent!"

The three Malfoys ignored the frantic motions of the people grabbing the falling money. Draco didn't even bother to hide his amusement at the others. He couldn't believe that anyone would believe that one of the teams would just hand out free money. It was just amusing to see them waving their arms around, grabbing the coins before anyone else could.

It went on for awhile before Ludo was back to roaring, "And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you - Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaand - _Krum!_"

Bellows of approval met this announcement, and many people - from both teams - surged to their feet as Krum came flying out onto the pitch.

Draco's fingers itched to grab the Omnioculars and press it to his face so he could see everything, but knew he would be far too distracted by them. So instead, he crossed his legs and folded his hands and listened as he watched the scarlet robed players zoom around.

The Ireland team was introduced, and the game began as soon as the Egyptian referee was introduced. The movements were all a blur. All the team members swerved and dived, attacked and blocked. It was ruthless and the crowd wasn't disappointing in their cheering and booing.

It didn't take long before Ireland led 30-10. And then, the two seekers were diving straight to the ground. Krum got out all right, moving at the last moment, but Lynch struck the ground hard and fast.

It took a while, but Lynch was back in the air, unsteady to say the least, but in the air. However, in less than an hour, Ireland was ahead by another hundred forty points. And then Lynch went in for another dive, Krum right on his tail.

Lynch once again hit the ground, his body bouncing a few times before laying still. Krum, on the other, pulled out of the dive with a fist held high.

The scoredboard flashed over and over again: _BULGARIA:160, IRELAND: 170 _with Ludo screaming, "IRELAND WINS! KRUM GOT THE SNITCH - BUT IRELAND WINS- good lord, I don't think any of us were expecting that!"

Standing quickly, the Malfoy family exited the box, not wanting to deal with so many people soon after the game.

"We have to stay," Lucius mumbled under his breath to the two behind him. "Something big is going to happen tonight. I'm not sure what, but something is."

The two nodded and followed, wondering what they would do for the rest of the time there while they waited.

* * *

The screams had Draco scampering to the edge of the woods, peeking out. It had been his father's idea to hide out there, though he had no idea why. Lucius himself had left an hour ago, after a note appeared in front of him. He had stayed long enough to tell his wife and son to stay out of sight before apparating somewhere else. But what he saw had his heart dropping.

There were tons of people sprinting towards his mother and himself. There were flames reaching for the skies, smoke spreading everywhere. Above the shouts of alarm, he could hear laughter. Cold, cruel laughter of many.

High in the sky were four figures, struggling. They were too far away to make out clearly, but he could tell they were human.

With his chest clenching, he suddenly realized who was causing the mayhem. And what they were doing, and who were most likely up in the air. Muggles or Muggle-borns. It didn't really matter, it was still disgusting.

Running back to his mother, he urged her behind some bushes, not caring if she ruined her clothing. Before he could hide himself, large rustling had him turning around, mask falling instantly into place.

The Weasley's, at least some of them, were heading past him. There were the twin's, who stared right at him. However, they did nothing. One of them just gripped his sister's hand tighter and pulled her deeper into the woods.

Then he heard someone yelp in pain.

Hermione's voice came from somewhere a bit in front of him, "What happened? Ron, where are you? Oh this is stupid - _lumos!"_

Withholding his snicker, Draco saw Ron sprawled on the ground in a hilarious fashion.

"Tripped over a tree root," the redhead muttered.

When no one moved, Draco realized he had to do _something_ to get them away from the Death Eaters before they reached the Golden Trio.

"Well, with feet that size, hard not to."

The three whipped around to face him. Now, though, he wasn't standing frozen in place. No, he was now leaning against a tree with a smirk plastered on his face. When Ron made a rude comment, his smirk just widened. "Language, Weasley. Hadn't you better be hurrying along, now? You wouldn't like _her_ spotted, would you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked, her eyes drawn into slits.

"Granger, they're after _Muggles_. D'you want to be showing off your knickers in midair? Because if you do, hang around... they're moving this way, and it would give us all a laugh."

"Hermione's a witch," Harry snapped.

Keeping useless emotions away, Malfoy continued, "Have it your own way, Potter. If you think they can't spot a Mudblood, stay where you are."

Ron, standing and red with rage, spat, "You watch your mouth!"

"Never mind, Ron."

A bang came from nearby and it took everything in Malfoy to not jump as the other three did. The screams that came up, closer than before, didn't help. "Scare easily, don't they?" He asked. "I suppose your daddy told you all to hide? What's he up to - trying to rescue the Muggle's?"

"Where're _your _parents?" Harry asked, vibrant green eyes flashing in rage. "Out there wearing masks, are they?"

Forcing back a flinch, Malfoy turned with a smile still in place. "Well... if they were, I wouldn't be likely to tell you, would I, Potter?"

"Oh, come on, let's go and find the others." Hermione grabbed the other two's arms and pulled them away.

"Keep that big bush head down, Granger," Malfoy called out, hoping that she listened.

When they were gone, Narcissa stood, dusting off her royal blue robes. "Nicely done, Draco. I received word from your father. It's time to head home."

Draco merely nodded when she came up to him and gripped his arm. They turned together, leaving the chaos behind.

* * *

A/N I didn't want to put it at the top because I don't like having to read _long_ announcements at the beginning, I just wanna read. Lol. So here it is:

I'm trying to stay at least three chapters ahead so I can update every week... However, I have school, work, things for my church, and band. Lots of fun stuff. Anyway, I will still attempt to update every week, which is still most likely. Just warning everyone :D


	8. Normal

A/N Now the real fun begins.

Ok, so from now on things are going to deviate - or at least more so then it did before. Harry's going to be acting differently than he did in the books from now on, for example. There will be other viewpoints ex: Harry, Hermione, Hagrid, bla bla bla - the excerpts will happen during a chapter, not have a chapter to themselves. Yes, Harry is important b/c he's the freaking Boy-Who-Lived, but the story _is_ about Draco. :)

Used some lines from the story.

Enjoy.

* * *

Rain was pouring down in buckets. Thunder shook the train as it sped towards Hogwarts. Lightning struck through the sky, angry light flashing. Dark clouds rolled over one another, spitting out droplets in rage.

Six students sat in a single compartment, discussing the upcoming events of the school year. Parkinson, fair skinned and dark haired, had her head resting on her 'Drakie'. Her sweater was a light gray and held the Slytherin emblem above her right breast, her green silver tie hanging loose around her neck.

Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle were on the opposite seat. The two larger boys sat on either side of the slimmer one. Neither spoke and stared dumbly at their baggage, mouths in firm frowns.

Theodore was talking avidly with Pansy, blatantly flirting with the girl clinging to Malfoy. Draco, for his part, wished the spiky black-haired boy the best of luck.

On the far side of Draco, closest to the exit of the room, was where Zabini sat. His dark eyes were on his book, slim fingers flicking from page to page every once in awhile. The whisper of paper turning slid under the conversation, but there nonetheless.

"Pansy, don't you think it'll be grand that the TriWizard Tournament is happening at Hogwarts?" Nott was leaning forward, mouth slightly tilted forward. "I'll be putting my name in, of course."

Draco mentally rolled his eyes, "Careful Nott, don't be too eager to throw your life away on the Tournament. Only the best wizards will be entering."

"Oh, Drakie, are you going to be entering?"

"Of course." Shuddering to himself, Draco slung an arm around the girl snuggling into him. "Like I said, only the best wizards will enter."

Glaring, dark blue eyes flashed up to meet light gray-blue ones. "You are so sure of yourself, Malfoy."

"Naturally." Draco smirked at him as he stood, Pansy following his movements. "I'm in the mood for a walk."

Blaise was the next to stand up, his book disappearing from his lap. Crabbe and Goyle followed soon after, and Nott didn't join until the other five were out of the compartment. Only then did he scowl and follow after them, the moment he left the room his face is back to neutral as he hurried to stand beside Pansy.

No one spoke. The hallway was big enough to barely fit four people across, but they didn't bother. Draco was, naturally, the one in front with Pansy hanging on his arm and Zabini standing to his right. Nott, having to pass Crabbe and Goyle who marched directly behind Malfoy, stood behind Pansy.

It wasn't the kind of walk Draco had been hoping for, but he would take what was given. His legs were stretching and there was blessed silence from the girl beside him.

Anyone who saw them coming had three choices: press against the wall to keep from getting run over, enter a compartment quickly, or backtrack to where they had come from. Not many wanted to stand against the wall, so they just entered other rooms.

Nott, Parkinson, and the two thugs were still chortling about a few Hufflepuffs that had entered a Slytherin room and some minor jinxes and curses were thrown about, ending with the poor kids scampering off.

Of course, he had a smug smirk on his face, but that hardly mattered. He could feel Zabini's dark eyes glancing over at him, but he didn't mention it.

"Oh, Drakie, look!" Parkinson, eager as she always was to please him, dragged Malfoy over to a compartment, suspiciously whispering. She waved the others off, and they listened, staying still as the other two moved to the door edge so they could peek in.

In the room talking with smiles were Harry, Hermione, Ron, Longbottom, Finnegan, and Thomas. One of the six had left the compartment door open and they could hear everything that was being said.

Longbottom was staring wide-eyed at a figurine in Ronald's hand. The other three boys were waving hands in the air as they went on about the Quidditch game. Hermione wasn't paying attention to anyone, just muttering, _"Boys,"_ under her breath as she read a thick tome.

Withholding a wistful smile, Draco stepped forward until he was leaning against the doorjamb, arms crossed. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do, but he knew he wasn't going to listen to his father's words that were still on a ripped piece of paper that lay in his pocket.

_Masks on at all times, Draco, even when home for the summer. Don't let anyone get suspicious of you for a moment, especially you're new defense teacher. You _must_ be Malfoy through and through. Is that understood?_

His reply, of course had been: _I will do as I must, Father_. Short, sweet, and to the point.

Something caught his attention. It was a birdcage with some red rag on it. It took a moment to realize it was someone's dress robes, and when he looked at who the owl was sitting in front of, he should have realized who they belonged to.

"Malfoy, what are _you_ looking at?" Hermione was standing, book closed and clutched in her hands as he turned his gaze on her. Her announcement had the other two of the Golden Trio standing up with wands pointed at him.

Merely smirking, he turned and pointed at the dress robes. Not seeming to care that he had wands pointed at him, Draco watched Ron's face turn a puce color.

"Eat dung, Malfoy!" The Weasley boy spat.

"I'd rather not, Weasel." Pushing off the door he stood straight, looking down his smooth, aristocratic nose at them. "I do hope none of you will enter. It will be rather droll seeing one of you die in the first round."

"What are you talking about, Malfoy?" Hermione was back inside her book, not too interested to spare the blonde boy another glance.

Not bothering to reply, he just turned on his heel, robes gracefully following him.

Pansy shot them a sneer as she rushed after her 'boyfriend' and latched back on him. As they walked away, they could hear Harry mutter, "That was... odd."

"That's it?" Nott followed, voice low. "We're not even going to go in and torment them some more?"

Draco just continued on the way to their room, throwing a scoff at the other boy, "Their stupidity is something I wish to avoid until it's impossible. However, if you wish to finish catching the ailment feel free to go back."

Parkinson batted her lashes up at him, "You are absolutely right, Drakie."

Nott, trying valiantly to suppress his anger, sent a glare at a first year who scurried back into a room she had just left. "It's just so unlike you, Malfoy." They finally re-entered the room, everyone taking their spots except for the two larger boys who went to stand outside the room to flank the door.

"I have no desire to be childish."

"So you were childish before?" Nott sent a smirk at the other boy, moving over for the slim chance that Pansy would ditch Draco for him.

Looking like the pureblood that he was, Zabini was sitting elegantly with his robes sitting just right around him. "How can you grow if you do not admit that you were once childish, Nott?" His Potions textbook back in his hands as he continued to flick through the pages. It didn't seem to concern him when he was the one now receiving a glare from the boy with the dark blue eyes.

The rest of the time was passed in a tense silence, at least in Theodore's mind. Draco was re-checking his homework with his one free hand. Pansy was curled up in the blonde boys side, sighing contentedly. Blaise ignoring everyone for the Potions text. Nott was just staring out the window at the storm.

Finally the Hogwarts Express slowed into Hogsmeade. Everything was pitch dark, the only light came when lightning flashed.

Thankful that he had sent his Eagle Owl, Apollo, to Hogwarts a few days in advance, he put on his thick cloak that had been spelled to keep water from soaking through and stepped out of the train and into the wind and rain. Pulling out his wand, he gently tapped his cloak and added a heating charm so he wouldn't freeze to death, and at the last minute did the same for Parkinson.

She stared up at him, eyes wide, and gave him a large smile. He ignored it and watched as first years flanked to the half-giant. Feeling bad for them, he mentally shuddered at the thought of having to cross the Black Lake in the storm.

Seeing Blaise already in a carriage, Draco hauled Pansy into it. Once the three were situated, the horseless carriage took off, leaving Nott to sit with Crabbe and Goyle.

* * *

Once inside, Draco took off his hood, water droplets adding to the soaked, stone floor. A shout had him turning, and couldn't help the small laughter that bubbled up. Ron had bits of a red balloon in his hair as he staggered to the side.

Hermione jumped to the side as another water filled balloon fell from the ceiling and came hurtling towards her. With a subtle flick of his wand, Draco sent it towards a Ravenclaw and she was the one shrieking.

"PEEVES! Peeves, come down here at ONCE!" Professor McGonagall came hurtling out of the Great Hall and skidded when her shoes touched the wet floor. The only thing that kept the Deputy Headmistress from falling onto the ground in front of all the students, was throwing her arm around Hermione who kept her steadied. "Ouch - sorry, Miss Granger -"

"That's all right, Professor!"

Looking away from the scene, Draco and his small group headed into the Great Hall. They took an immediate right and went to sit at the Slytherin table. The hall was splendid, like it always was. Candles floated over the tables, wax never dripping, illuminating the golden cups and plates there that waited to be filled. The tables were already packed and filled with the buzz of students waiting for the sorting and feast.

The Bloody Baron was nowhere in sight, but that wasn't that much of a surprise. He always came out just before the sorting began to float in the corner to watch. Whenever a new student made it into Slytherin, he would merely raise his chin as a statement that he had heard. When that was finished, he would slide through the walls and leave the feast behind. If someone ever asked why, the Bloody Baron would sneer before saying it was a waste of his time to watch a gaggle of students eat while he had other pressing matters to handle.

Whatever the pressing matter was, no one knew. Perhaps except for Professor Snape, who was the Head of Slytherin House.

Looking up at staff table, it was easy for Draco to tell that whoever the new Defense Teacher was, wasn't there. Severus sat two seat from Dumbledore, an empty chair between them which was surely Professor McGonagall's.

The doors of the Great Hall were pushed open and the buzz of the students seated grew. In walked the first years, who seemed soaked to the bone. All of them were shivering and clutching themselves to preserve warmth. There was one boy, who was _tiny_, who seemed to be wrapped in Hagrid's moleskin overcoat. The coat was too big for him, and it dragged several feet behind the boy. Even though it must have been heavy from water, the boy seemed to be so excited he was almost _skipping_.

Not able to believe it, Draco ignored the boy and pretended to listen to the Sorting Hat's song. It was different from all the other years, but basically the same. Who the founders were, that they were once united, who they wanted in their houses, and that the hat was about to sort them.

Names were called out, houses were called out, and whenever a new Slytherin was added, Draco would clap. When finally the sorting ended - a boy named Kevin Whitby who ended up in Hufflepuff - Dumbledore got to his feet.

He smiled and opened his arms wide, welcoming them all back, he spoke quietly, but his voice echoed throughout the hall, "I have only two words to say to you: _tuck in_."

Even as the final word was uttered, dishes of food appeared in front of them. Everyone did as Dumbledore said. Hands reached out and pulled food of all sorts onto their plates.

Blaise, Draco, and most of the other purebloods in Slytherin were more reserved than the other houses. They used their forks and spoons to dish out appropriate rations. They ate each bite slowly, savoring the flavor.

Draco just wished for desert. He hadn't had pudding or cookies since he had left Hogwarts a few months before. Though that was his own fault, seeing as he didn't want to eat anyone else's cookies except for Dobby's.

Ever since his letter from his Mother about Dobby being there, he had been able to tell which were made from him than from the others. Maybe it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but he felt like it was almost impossible _not_ to tell them apart.

When desert had passed and Draco was full on a light helping of pudding and cookies, all the food disappeared and Dumbledore once again stood. "So! Now that we are all fed and watered," Draco tuned him out from there on out, barely registering what was being said.

It wasn't until the gasp of, "_What?"_ that brought Draco back to the conversation.

Dumbledore waved a hand to bring the attention back to him before continuing on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year..."

Again Draco let himself drift away, wondering what his mother was doing.

Above them, as rain seemed to disappear into nothingness, a large boom of thunder went hand in hand with the Great Hall's doors banging wide open.

A man stood in the doorway, his body leaning on a long staff. The traveling cloak he wore was old and tattered. His hair, dark gray in color, was tangled and matted. He walked towards the staff table, a _thunk_ heard every other step. His stride held a limp, and Draco could just make out the wooden leg with a clawed foot.

All eyes were on the disfigured man. Every inch of his face and skin seemed to bear scars, his nose seemed to be mostly missing, and yet it was his eyes that held Draco captive. One eye was a beady black, but the other was large and an electric blue. The vivid blue one seemed to be moving constantly. It went up, down, side to side, and even rolled over to look into the back of the man's head while the other stared straight ahead.

He went straight to Dumbledore. The Headmaster shook the man's hand, but seemed to be whispering so not to be overheard. The stranger shook his head. His face was ever serious. Not once did a smile break the bastard's face.

When he sat down, he started eating. However, before anything entered his mouth, he had to sniff the food that had been stabbed by his fork - one that he brought with him - and took slow, deliberate bites.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Professor Moody." Dumbledore clapped happily with Hagrid, but no one else did. Not even the other professors. To say the sparse applause died down quickly was an understatement.

Draco kept his eyes on Dumbledore, but his attention was towards the unkempt man. He didn't drink anything that was given at the table, instead he brought out a flask and downed some in one quick motion.

The magical eye was darting everywhere before it landed on Draco. It was hard to keep himself calm and pretending to focus on the talking Headmaster. Then the eye moved on, and Malfoy let out a tiny breath he didn't realize he had been holding.

_Don't trust the new defense teacher_, he told himself firmly. He didn't know if it was his own voice, Malfoy's, or even his fathers.

"You're JOKING!" A yell from across the room had Draco turning his head. Both Weasley twins were standing, mouths slightly agape before lifting into huge grins.

Laughter echoes throughout the hall, and the new Professor was forgotten for a moment.

"I am _not_ joking, Mr. Weasley." Draco rolled his eyes and folded his arms on his lap. If only Arthur Weasley had told his family, they wouldn't be making fools of themselves.

Then again...

Casting his gaze around the hall, everyone was relaxed again, the buzz of sound back that had been non-existent since Moody had entered the hall. Maybe the twins were more than they seemed.

Time passed as Dumbledore explained everything, and the blonde hair boy nearly jumped in relief when people started screaming that it wasn't fair that you had to be seventeen to enter the tournament.

At the end of it, Dumbledore clapped his hands and ordered everyone to bed. He didn't bother to wait for anyone, he just walked ahead towards the door. Before he exited, though, he could hear the twins, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville talking in hushed voices talking right by the huge doors.

Stopping, he didn't move even when he got glares and orders to move. He just simply crossed his arms and leaned against the wood. That was apparently good enough for everyone else because he was mostly out of the way. Refraining from rolling his eyes, Draco went back to eavesdropping.

"Yeah, but that was years ago, wasn't it? Anyway, where's the fun without a bit of risk? Hey, Ron, what if we found out how to get 'round Dumbledore? Fancy entering?" It was one of the twin's talking, and Draco eased around the door to watch, and since the twins - the tall, ginger heads that they were - had their backs to him, no one else in the group could see him, but he could see them all.

"What d'you reckon?" Ron asked Harry. "Be cool to enter, wouldn't it? But I 'spose they might want someone older. Dunno if we've learned enough..."

"I definitely haven't," Neville's voice had everyone's heads to turn.

In doing so, they missed Harry shaking his head and muttering, "No, I wouldn't want to."

* * *

Later that evening, Draco was sitting in front of the blazing fire; Blaise, Pansy, and Theodore were sitting with him. Pansy fell asleep while the three boys were talking.

"Well, don't you reckon we need to figure out a way past Dumbledore?" Nott asked, elbows on his knees.

"Sit up straight," Zabini ordered mildly, the soft words weren't new and Theodore did as he was told without much thought. "Trying to get past Dumbledore would be fruitless."

"We could do it! We weren't put in Slytherin for nothing." Nott was having a hard time not bouncing up and down in his seat, but he somehow only twitched. Still, Draco was having a hard time not comparing him to a rabbit. "We'll find a way through Dumbledore's manipulations."

"If you believe that then you have surely caught the Gryffindor illness of idiocy." Draco stretched out his body before sitting with his back straight and his heels touching the chair.

"Then what do you think we'll do? Sit down and watch... what? Nothing?"

Draco rose an eyebrow at the other boy, "We'll see if anyone dies and then laugh our arses off if that happens. Really now, we'll be doing _something_."

With a huff Nott got to his feet and left, swearing that he would "find a way around that Dumbledore fool".

Blaise and Draco both shook their heads at Theodore before turning back to each other. "I'll wake Pansy. We should both head to bed. Classes starting and all."

"Wait, Malfoy." Blaise stood up and Draco followed suit, the dark skinned boy standing a hair taller than the fair skinned one. "You have been acting... strange, lately."

"Have I?" Draco cocked his head to the side, a smirk in place. "I don't believe I know what you're talking about, Zabini. Perhaps if you were a bit more clear."

"You never pass up a chance to irritate the Golden Trio. Yet, you've bypassed them two times, in the same day. What are you up to, Malfoy?"

"I believe I have already answered with my explanation to Nott."

"Yes, they're idiots, but you know you can't catch that."

Draco let out a laugh - one Malfoy felt needed, and one Draco just felt like giving - and his smirk turned into a satisfactory smile. "Yes, but Nott and Parkinson fell for it."

"How very Slytherin of you. But really, what is your reason for avoiding the Golden Trio?"

"Zabini, you know the second rule of being a Slytherin is never divulge your secrets to another snake." Draco patted the other boy on the cheek before heading over to the sleeping girl. "There are too many things that can go terribly wrong if you do."

"Ah, but you also know how we work. We fight to know each others weaknesses."

Malfoy threw a derisive laugh at the Zabini, blue-gray eyes suddenly cold. "You may look and pry, Zabini, but you will know and understand _nothing_ unless I tell you of them myself."

Blaise took a step back before he gave a nod, knowing he pushed the slimmer boy too far. With one last look, Zabini went to his dorm with Nott. Malfoy's father had sent a complaint to the Headmaster and the Board about his son having to share a room. So Draco now had Blaise's old room which had been only for him.

Giving Pansy a gentle shove, he woke her up and sent her to bed. That done, he went into his dorm and got ready to sleep. He quickly changed and sat on his bed, grabbing his journal and quill from his bedside table.

Writing quickly, he sent a missive to his mother.

_Mum,_

_The first day is done and over with. I can't say I'm too pleased._

_Our new defense teacher is... interesting to say the least. Is he Mad-Eye Moody that Father spoke of who's in the Order? Why is he saying I need to watch myself with him, more so than anyone else? If you can't say, I won't be too surprised._

_I have been... altering my Malfoy mask. Just a touch to the point of people might think he might be maturing. The good thing is, though, one of the two people I want to notice and question has already spoken up. Blaise is becoming suspicious, and I'm hoping he'll follow me to the Come and Go Room and I can speak freely. Well, maybe not freely. That will be one of the few things that can possibly lighten my load. Harry just seems confused on why I practically ignored them without any... spoken qualms about the Weasleys or Hermione. We'll see if he'll do anything._

_Mother, I must tell you this now: I have no plans on following through Father's orders of leaving once - yes I've said once because it's looking more and more likely that it will happen - the Dark Lord has risen. I will do what I have to. No matter what happens, I will stay, and I don't care what Father does._

_Yes, I know you will probably tell Father of this. You two usually have no secrets, I know._

_Love you, Mum,_

_Draco._

Satisfied, he meant to close his journal, but then writing started to appear on the page. She was writing immediately back, one of the rare times they were both free. So Draco waited, and watched as her fluid handwriting appeared.

_My dearest Draco,_

_Well, I'm glad you are set and ready for tomorrow. Darling, I wish you didn't speak so. The school year will be full of knowledge to learn._

_Darling, you told me before you left that you would try that, but I didn't think you would start so soon. Does it have anything to do with your father? Blaise was never the one to miss the particulars. Your Malfoy mask wouldn't be able to mature that quickly, and he knows it. However, I'm hoping he doesn't speak to anyone about it. I'm not sure who he would tell. He and his mother aren't very close, as you well know._

_I can't say I'm too surprised. I've told your father many times that if it weren't for your mask, I'm not sure how you would have survived with other Slytherins. You were always more loyal and courageous than most in our family._

_We have our secrets, Darling. This is not one for me to tell._

_Love,_

_Mum._

Draco smiled down at the little book before reaching for his quill and making an immediate reply.

_Mum,_

_Yes, school is for learning. However, I never really get a break from it, even when I'm home._

_It has everything to do with Father. If it weren't for him, I would have been a lot subtler, like leaving some loose ends around. Something Malfoy would never do. The others would have just thought it was someone elses. However, because of what Father told me, I have had to alter my plan and move it at a much quicker pace._

_Mother, please tell me you are not insinuating that I would be in Gryffindor if it weren't for my mask. I would be driven into insanity if I were to be with them constantly._

_Thanks,_

_Draco_

Narcissa's reply came almost immediately.

_Draco,_

_We will speak later. I wish for you to get enough sleep for your first day of classes._

_Mum_

Draco frowned at the book, but sighed, already wetting his quill and setting it to the parchment.

_Mum,_

_I will attempt to sleep, but we haven't been able to talk back and forth like this for a while._

_Good night,_

_Draco._

Laying down his quill, Draco stared at the diary for a long while. Though he knew his mother would write nothing more, he wished for her to continue. So he could continue to be like any other normal fourteen year old boy.

But then again, what did he know of normal?


	9. Library

A/N I've put in a scene I didn't know was going to happen until I started writing it. It was... interesting to say the least. And my mind went, _Whoa!_ when I was finished. It's funny how those things happen. Some conversations from the book, but twisted so I can make it work with my story.

This chapter is early because I've finished a chapter today. So here you go. :D

* * *

_Mum,_

_I just wanted to thank you for the care package. Artemis wasn't out in the rain trying to get here, was she? I'm hoping not, as she left right after she got here and she didn't look that well. Keep an eye on her for me, please._

_As you know, I don't have much time to write. I'm positive Pansy will be in here shortly if I don't leave on time. But you know Malfoy, just loves to make an entrance. I see no reason to hurry as the first class is History of Magic._

_Yes, Mother, I know all classes are important. There is no need to remind me, as you have done every time I complain about_ _this_... _lacking__ class._

_Love,_

_Draco_

* * *

As he expected, History of Magic was indeed boring. They had immediately sat down and discussed last years course of witch hunts. Tools were mentioned, the burnings, the drownings, the tortures and so on.

Draco sat in the back taking notes between Pansy and Blaise. Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle were at the table in front of them. Crabbe and Goyle were out cold like most of the class, though the Ravenclaws had charmed their quills to take the notes for them.

Parkinson and Nott passed notes all class, changing them into origami before sending it back to the other. Blaise had his arms folded on the table, eyes facing towards Professor Binns, but his mind was on anything but the lecture. Draco, on the other hand, was writing his notes, keeping them neat and orderly even though the lecture was over the previous year.

When the droning stopped, finally, he put his stuff away quickly and left, the others following him. Davis, Greengrass, and Bulstrode went in a different direction than the larger group, shooting glances over their shoulders at the other Slytherins before going back to their whispering.

"Drakie, where are we going?" Pansy smiled up at the blonde hair boy, placing her arms in his. "Please, not the library again. I refuse to go if that's where you're going to spend all your free time."

"Then I must apologize. I would rather finish this essay now than deal with it later." He gave a short shake of his arm to unlodge the girl clinging to it. Malfoy gave a small smile before adding, "We have the giant's class after this free period."

"Oh Merlin." Pansy covered her eyes. "I think I'll join you. I have no desire to think about whatever horrid creature we'll have to deal with." With a shudder, she straightened the bag on her shoulder and sighed, "off to the library we go."

"Studying, really?" Nott finally spoke up, mouth in a frown. "No matter how hard you study, you won't beat that mudblood." They were leaving the first floor and getting on the damned moving stairs. Pansy and Draco took the lead up the stairs followed by Zabini and Nott, and behind them were the two goons.

"So you believe that justifies barely scraping by classes." Blaise was behind Draco, but his quiet - yet strong - voice carried far enough for anyone close to hear.

"Whatever, Zabini. This is insane. I for one, am not going to study. Crabbe, Goyle, lets go torture some first years." Without waiting for a reply, Nott turned around and stomped off, smacking past some third years that were hurrying to class.

Draco had stopped to watch the retreating back, a smirk in place. "I wonder if he'll remember to step over the fake stair." With that, he turned around and kept going up the staircase, Pansy chuckling after him. Blaise just followed along, once again quiet.

They entered, and Madam Pince shot a glare over at the trio, but otherwise did nothing. They walked passed many shelves and tables, staring anyone down who gawked at them.

"You know, for being here so many times, how do we not run into Wonderboy?" Pansy asked, flipping some hair over her shoulder and sending a smile over to a Ravenclaw boy with a prefect badge on. "I mean, sure, it's unusual to run into the same people in the library, but it has to happen sometimes."

"Parkinson, do you not pay attention?" Blaise kept on their tails as they walked towards the very back of the library, where no one really went because everything dated back over three thousand years was there. "Potter and Weasley would rather die than spend a few hours in the library studying."

Pansy slouched down into a chair, depositing her bag on the table. When the dark skinned boy coughed lightly as he sat with his back straight and arms in lap, the girl crossed her arms on the wooden top. Her head landed on her joined hands and stuck her tongue out. "Zabini, don't you think after trying so many times you would realize I have no inclination of acting all proper when no one is around to see?"

"Practice makes perfection."

"Yes, dear, whatever makes you sleep better at night." The girl rolled her eyes before narrowing them at Blaise. "Not that I'm complaining about your company, but you usually study alone."

"It is the beginning of the year," was the boy's easy reply as he pulled out his History of Magic book.

Draco followed his lead, getting everything he needed out of his bag.

"Yes, but that still doesn't explain your sudden change of heart."

Blaise, who had already started to write on his paper, glanced up at the girl, irritation on his face. "Two things, Parkinson, and then I want silence to study. One: I was in-between everyone and had no desire to force my way out between Crabbe and Goyle. Two: leaving after the others left would have been taken as a statement that I agree with Nott, who I had just openly _disagreed_ with. The only logical place to study was where we were heading to begin with: the library."

Pansy finally nodded and dragged her work out of her bag with a sigh.

They worked quietly for thirty minutes. The only sounds were the scratching quills, the turning of pages, and the occasional movement of the books in the library floating around in boredom.

Draco was staring at his paper, already a good few inches long, scowling at it. When the answer couldn't be found in his book, and wouldn't appear in his memory, he stood up.

"Drakie?"

"I'll be right back. I need a book."

"Umm... You're not going to call it to you?"

"Need to stretch my legs." Draco got to his feet, waving a hand at Pansy so she wouldn't follow. As he walked away, he had to ignore Blaise's gaze boring into his skull.

He took the long way around, staying in the back sections so no one spotted him. Books zoomed past him, pages fluttering with some sort of unknown happiness. Whispers of conversation rolled past him, and he had to quench the urges to sit and listen.

But then a sound caught his attention. A low, almost inaudible sound came from the right, even farther away from the groups of unknowing kids. At first, Draco thought he was hearing things, but he stopped anyway.

Silence stretched on for a minute. There were no weird noises. No strange occurrences. He was about to move on.

Then it happened again. That sound.

Looking over to the right, he only saw the large window that showed the Forbidden Forest. Nothing strange or discriminating. So, moving cautiously, Draco inched towards the older, dustier shelves.

The books were worn and torn. Their bindings creaked when the moved even an inch. Pages fell a few times, but they would go back up and loosely re-attach.

Peeking his head past a few shelves, nothing popped out. Frustrated and annoyed, Draco turned to leave.

The sound came, and Draco could hear it for what it was.

He didn't know if it was a moan of pain or a moan of... well, Draco was curious either way. It wasn't his fault that he heard it in a very public place, albeit one that anyone rarely went to, but that hardly mattered.

Slipping his way to the last shelf, Draco slowly moved his head past the books.

His jaw slackened and blood rushed to his face.

The Weasley twins were sandwiching another, smaller boy. A boy with black hair and dark skin. One twin had his mouth latched on the boy's neck, an arm around the stomach of the other. The second twin had his mouth on one of the ears and his hand was lower than publicly decent.

Unable to move, Draco just watched the red-headed boys... handle their friend. The one kissing Lee's ear whispered something, making the slimmer boy shiver and nod, eyes squeezed tight.

The head of the other twin rose, light brown eyes locking on blue-gray ones. Still unable to order his body to listen, Draco watched as a tongue flicked out to lick the dark neck.

It was only when the twin smirked at him that Draco was able to jerk away and walk back to where Pansy and Blaise were waiting for him.

All he could picture were the twins and Lee Jordan. How tightly they were pressed together. How the twins controlled everything.

It should have disgusted him, yet he couldn't force himself to feel that way. No matter how hard he tried, his mind only whispered that the twins hadn't touched each other. They were simply pleasuring someone else. What could be wrong with that?

"Where's the book?" Blaise's voice had Draco snapping back.

He blinked a couple of times, unsure of what Zabini was talking about. There were plenty of books. Then his mind caught up. "Wasn't there." Checking his watch, he began to put his things back in his bag. "Lets go. It might be Care of Magical Creatures, but I still don't want to be late."

* * *

Even though what Draco said was true, the Slytherin's were still a bit late. Not that they hurried to get there. They had met up with the other Slytherin's - Crabbe and Goyle- who instantly got behind the blonde hair boy. Nott and Greengrass had left for Divination with the Hufflepuffs while Bulstrode and Davis went to Muggle Studies with other Gryffindors.

Just as Draco feared, they were working with some horrid beasts that were called Blast-Ended Skrewts. They had legs in the oddest places, they didn't seem to have any head, and some either had stingers or suction cups to draw blood.

They were horrid creatures and he had absolutely no idea of why anyone would want them. Parts of them were needed in potions, but even then someone else went out to get the blood, stingers, or whatever else was needed.

Having no idea why his father wished him to be in Care of Magical Creatures, Draco swore that he was going to ignore his father's wishes and getting into the Study of Ancient Runes the next year. He would get a Time-Turner if he had to.

Draco had just finished with Arithmancy with Zabini, Nott, Greengrass, and some Gryffindors, and were heading down to intercept the other Slytherins leaving Muggle Studies. The only reason the others were in Muggle Studies was because of their parents wanting them to understand how muggles worked in case the need arose for them to enter that other world.

When they had met the others, Malfoy pulled out the newspaper and tossed it at Nott. "Look what it says about _Arnold_ Weasley."

Nott's eyes went down onto the paper and grinned, "Brilliant. Where did the Golden Trio go? I would love to shove this under their noses."

"Dinner is going on. Honestly, Nott, where would Weasley go when there's food?" Zabini was ahead of the group, his bag perched precisely on one shoulder. "Please use your head, it is bothersome correcting you all the time."

"I still don't know why you do it." Squeezing Draco's arm, Pansy took larger steps until she could walk side by side the darker skinned boy. "You need to relax and stop being so proper. Drakie could teach you." She looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at the pale boy.

Walking down the main staircase, they found the three Gryffindors just about to enter the Great Hall. Raising his voice, Malfoy called out, "Weasley! Hey, Weasley!"

Bulstrode, Greengrass, Parkinson, and Davis continued on, not interested in the play out. Zabini stood in the back, watching quietly as Malfoy and Nott strode forward with the oafs behind them.

Simply sticking his hands in pockets, Draco waited into Weasley answered with a, "What?"

"Your fathers in the paper." With that Nott took over and read the article titled: **FURTHER MISTAKES AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC**.

The whole corridor was frozen, Theodore's voice carrying down the hall and even into the buzzing Great Hall. Ron's face was growing redder as each new word was spoken, Harry and Hermione having to grab the boy's robes to stop him from jumping the two Slytherin's.

Finished, Nott flipped the paper open to show something, "And there's a picture, Weasley! A picture of your parents outside their house - if you can call it a house! Your mother could do with losing a bit of weight, couldn't she?"

Ron's body was trembling, hands clenched into fists. His mouth was open in a snarl, and Theo just laughed.

Harry ignored the other black haired boy to face the smirking blonde. "What are you playing at, Malfoy?"

He just raised an eyebrow, "Whatever do you mean, Potter?"

Before Harry had the chance to snap back, Ron finally found his voice, his voice shouting across the space between the two parties, "Don't speak of my mother like that!" His face was slowly turning purple, his breathing coming out in pants. Hermione had to dig her feet into the ground and use all her weight to keep from letting Ron go.

"I'm just stating fact." Theo looked at the picture, frowning at it. "I really don't want to be looking at this later, do you, Draco?"

Malfoy just inclined his head, eyes never leaving Potter's.

Ripping the page out, Nott flicked it onto the ground near the other three. "You might want to hang that up, Weasley, it's the closest to fame you'll get without the help of the Boy-Who-Lived."

Turning his back to the Gryffindors, Draco was about to head into the Great Hall when Weasley spoke up again, peeking his interest. "You know _your_ mother, Nott? How she mysteriously died one day, her body found with no hint of what killed her. How they found illegal potions in her lab when your house was searched."

Nott had stiffened, turning to face the trio once again. His voice was low, and full of poison as he spoke, "Don't insult my mother, Weasley."

"_Ron!_" Hermione finally spoke up, huffing, "stop making a scene. Lets go eat."

"Keep your trap shut of my mother, Nott, unless you want something stuffed down it."

The three turned, but then a loud BANG! echoed around the room.

Screams filled the hallway. People streamed into the hallway from the Great Hall. Something white flew past Ron's head. But then another, louder bang was heard with the shout of , "OH NO YOU DON'T, LADDIE!"

Professor Moody was clunking down the marble staircase, but Draco was too busy trying not laugh at the miniature black monkey that was sitting on the floor. The tiny thing - a Pygmy Marmoset - blinked rapidly a few times before opening it's mouth in a screech. Draco let out a cough, holding back his laughter.

Crabbe bent down and poked it, but Moody's yell of, "LEAVE IT!" had the boy jumping back and freezing in a crouch.

When Moody started towards the monkey, Nott let out a small squeak before hightailing it for the dungeons, but Moody pointed his wand at the fleeing animal. "I don't think so!" The creature went up ten feet before falling to the ground with a smack, and then bouncing once again high into the air. "I don't like people who attack when their opponent's back is turned."

Each bounce ended with the monkey going higher and higher, it's screech becoming more and more pained.

"Stinking, cowardly, scummy thing to do..."

The monkey clawed at the ground, hoping to anchor itself. Yet it went higher, it's tail swishing madly and limbs fumbling around.

"Never - do - that - again -" Moody spoke one word each time the tiny animal hit the ground.

"Professor Moody!" The voice was high-pitched in shock.

Draco was leaning against the wall. His mouth was parted to breath, and his shoulders were barely moving. Each lungful of air he took in he constantly had to remind himself not to burst out laughing. But when he glanced back up at the marble staircase with her arm full of books and an appalled look on his face, he started choking on his laughter.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall," Moody spoke calmly, still bouncing the creature in the air.

"What - what are you doing?" Her eyes were trained on the monkey, as were everybody elses.

"Teaching."

"Teach - Moody, _is that a student?_" The books spilled out of her limp arms, and Draco had to bang his head on the wall to keep his maniac giggles inside. His sides hurt from repressing it, and he was eternally grateful everyone was too busy staring at the scene than at him.

"Yep."

"No!" McGonagall raced down the stairs, books forgotten. Once at the bottom, she waved her wand. Seconds later a loud snap was heard and Theodore Nott was lying in a heap on the floor. His hair was covering his brilliantly pink face. When he got to his feet, he was wincing and holding his back.

"Mody, we _never_ use Transfiguration as a punishment! Surely Professor Dumbledore told you that?"

"He might've mentioned it, yeah. But I thought a good sharp shock -"

"We give detentions, Moody! Or speak to the offender's Head of House!"

"I'll do that then." He walked up to Nott who flinched away from him. "Now, your Head of House'll be Snape, will it?"

Theo was nudged in his side to get moving. They headed to the dungeon's, the _thunk_ of a wooden leg told of their passage. "Yes," was Nott's only reply.

"Ah, an old friend. I've been looking forward to a chat with old Snape... Come on, you, you're walking too slow."

Draco, who had just been getting control over himself, nearly sank to the ground chuckling when he saw Moody grip Theodore's arm and dragged him away faster.

Malfoy finally got back in control when Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle walked up to him. They stalked past McGonagall who had her books soar into her arms. As they passed the trio, Draco could just hear Ron saying, " - only thing to make it better was if it was Malfoy. And a ferret! The amazing bouncing ferret!"

Draco shook his head and went to sit at the Slytherin table, barely keeping his grin from being plastered on his face.

* * *

Heading towards the potions lab, Draco breezed past others going in the opposite direction. Students murmured to each other, heading for the outside and freedom that only a Friday could give at the end of the week.

His steps were quiet, subdued. His thoughts were on his father and his short message talking of what could very well happen.

Strict orders that couldn't be ignored. Well, as his father had put it. He was supposed to listen to every word the man said and follow his every word and not complain about it. All he had to do was say, "Yes, sir" and everything would be just fine between his father and him.

Yet he had no desire to run away like a coward.

His mother was in agreement with his father, like usual. The man could do no wrong. She loved him and Draco and would do anything to keep her family safe. If it meant hiding she was all for it.

Shadows lengthened. Each corridor got colder. The lamps seemed to dim. The portraits talked in whispers. Marble statues and knights seemed to keep their eyes on the quiet boy. But his eyes were downcast, and those who saw him gave him odd looks but kept silent.

Finally he stood in front of the door. Inside he could hear people talking in murmurs. One loud, one soft. So he leaned against the wall and waited.

Still, he couldn't focus on anyone walking nearby. Crabbe and Goyle ambled past, neither party realizing they came within a foot of each of other. A few Ravenclaws went by Draco as they headed to another potions lab to practice. The two girls in the group frowned when he didn't even acknowledge they walked near him.

Finally, the door opened, bringing him out of his mind. Standing in the entryway was Nott, a scowl firmly in place. The boy stormed away, not even bothering to see if there was anyone there.

"Mr. Malfoy, right on time. Come." Snape's voice had Draco turning his head away from the retreating boy and towards his professor.

"Yes, sir." Draco entered, closing the door firmly behind him. Even as he heard the door click, he felt Snape rush into his mind as wards surrounded the room.

Even busy thinking, Draco hadn't taken his shields down. Still, even though he was much better, glimpses of his conversation with his father slipped through.

Snape pounded against his walls. He seemed to slip back, only to rush forward. The barriers would ripple, but wouldn't budge completely.

Then a different approach had been taken. His godfather slid across the barrier, seeming to caress every inch. He seemed to reach forward, prodding the thing that blocked him from the memories he searched for.

When Severus finally pulled out, Draco was left with a headache. Rubbing his temples, the boy sat in a chair, ignoring his godfather when the man moved away. It wasn't until a glass was thrust in front of his face did Draco look up.

Taking the potion gratefully, Draco sniffed at the concoction to make sure it was only a headache drought and nothing else. When he downed it, the pain behind his eyes receded, and he could see Snape nodding in approval.

"There is still much to perfect. For instance, I can still tell that you are attempting to block certain thoughts from me. You need to focus on making your barrier meld into your mind to make it seem as if its supposed to be there. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Excellent, we'll start there. What do you think of when you are blocking your thoughts and memories from someone?"

"Does it matter?" Draco leaned his head against the back of the chair, letting a sigh come out.

"Yes. Most people think of a brick wall, which is why most are not successful at Legilimens."

Sitting up straight again, the boy rose an eyebrow at the elder man. "Why's that?"

"A brick wall is not natural, like how the mind is." Severus took a seat in front of the boy, elbows resting on the armrests so he could steeple his fingers under his chin. "The brick wall may be stable, but enough force will bring it crumbling down. It's what happened the first few times I entered your mind. Then you changed something and it became more difficult."

"Well... I did try a wall at first. But it was hard keeping all the layers just right, so I focused on water."

"Water?" A smile pulled at the professor's mouth. "Is that so?"

"Yeah. It makes sense to me. Memories and thoughts seem to flow with and against each other, much like water. So I drown the thoughts and memories I don't want you to see at the bottom, while I have other memories and thoughts on the surface where everyone can see them." With the headache gone, Draco gave his godfather a quick smile, "Sev, you said that bricks and monuments and walls aren't natural like the mind, but water is."

"You are correct. Now you have to create that barrier that you created and mesh it completely with the rest of your mind. At the moment, you seem to have two distinct... mind processes is what we'll call it. The first one is like a natural path, one that you walk on and see the memories and thoughts you've forgotten about like you can see trees and bushes."

"But how can you mesh land and water?" Draco crossed his ankle over his knee, leaning forward. His eyebrows were drawn downwards, his pale eyes narrowed, and lips pursed. "They are two separate elements."

"Once again, that is correct. You are left with two different choices. The first one is to change your barrier into a land one, hiding feelings, thoughts, and memories you wish no one to see in the bushes or holes. Or, you can just add a lake into your landscape and do as you do now."

"That doesn't make sense, though. I don't visualize a landscape when I go through my thoughts."

"Of course you don't, you just create it. However, that is what it looks like to someone who enters your mind. It doesn't matter what you perceive, but what the other does."

Rubbing his eyes, Draco sighed. "So if I focus on making a landscape, will everything just fall into place?"

"Yes."

Draco nodded, "Ok. I'll work on it."

"That is all."

"Sev, I have another question."

"About Legilimens?"

"No."

Severus rubbed his head before nodding, "What is it?"

Draco gave him a quick grin, "Not used to giving advice to kids are you, Sev?"

"Ask your question, brat, or leave."

"I know you saw a bit of the memory when I was arguing with my father. Would you stay to be tortured to protect your family?"

"I wouldn't protect my family." Snape's eye grew cold. "I would rather rot than have protected them from anything."

"Would you do it for anyone?"

Silence stretched on for a while before Severus looked away. "There are a few people who I stay for. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here doing what I do."

"Who?"

"It doesn't matter who it is. I've answered your question. Go eat."

Taking the cue, Draco nodded and got up. "I'll see you later, Sev."

"Also, we won't be able to meet as often as last year. Moody is keeping both his eyes on Slytherins. I don't want more attention on you than what there is already. I will send an owl the next time we'll meet."

The boy just nodded one more time before leaving the room, the wards falling as the door opened. Heading back up the Entrance Hall, he ignored everyone that he went past.

He went straight to the Slytherin table and sat down, sending his customary sneer towards the Gryffindor trio. As he was pulling food onto his plate, he couldn't help but let his eyes drift back to the Gryffindor table.

Except it wasn't to the golden trio. It was to the twins and Lee. The dark skinned boy sat in-between the redheads, a large grin on his face. The three were laughing and talking. One of them flicked some food at Lee, and he attacked back with some food of his own. But then one of the twins looked up and locked eyes with Draco.

Fighting back the urge to look away, he waited for the twin to get his brothers attention and they both looked at him.

With both of them staring at him, Draco sent them a smirk. Instead of going pale, they both gave him a grin. Faltering, Draco blinked at them, his head cocked barely to the side.

Too confused to keep looking at the elder boys, he went back to his dinner and to what was considered normal.

* * *

A/N ALSO I want to make sure you all know that the story is not going to be the same as the books - obviously. Things are going to change drastically from the books, especially from fifth year and on. Oh, and to give you guys an idea of how many chapters book four has, I so far have the story planned until chapter 18, and it's still the fourth year. :) Just thought you guys would like to know.


	10. Couldn't be Bothered

A/N Remember, I'm changing some scenes in the book, or at least altering them some. :) Just re-warning everyone.

Also... this is the quickest I've been able to write a chapter. And since I just finished it (ch. 14), I figured I'll put one up here to compensate. :)

So, here you go!

* * *

"Look!" As she had been doing all week, Pansy pointed at the sign beside the doors leading into the Great all. "Drakie, look!"

The sign read:

TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT

THE DELEGATIONS FROM BEAUXBATONS AND DURMSTRANG WILL BE ARRIVING AT 6 O'CLOCK ON FRIDAY THE 30TH OF OCTOBER. LESSONS WILL END HALF AN HOUR EARLY. STUDENTS WILL RETURN THEIR BAGS AND BOOKS TO THEIR DORMITORIES AND ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CASTLE TO GREET OUR GUESTS BEFORE THE WELCOMING FEAST.

"Yes, yes, Pansy, we have seen it every time we've left the dungeons." Draco let the girl drag him over to it so she could gush over it.

"We also have no desire to listen about the probability of Viktor Krum coming." Blaise spoke up, a small smile on his face. "We will find out tomorrow. Now lets get to Defense before he changes one of us into a beast." He gave a slight shudder and started walking up the marble staircase.

For a moment, Pansy stood still, but then she shook her head and skipped off after Blaise. "Really, a cute little monkey isn't a beast."

Nott, trying not to look pained, followed up after them with Draco just in front of him. "Let's not talk of that."

The girl flipped her hair over her shoulder, sending Nott a grin. "Theo, stop being silly. It's already in the past, no need to worry about it. Just don't attack someone when their back is turned." Ignoring the mumbling boy, Pansy kept talking to Blaise, "Monkeys are cute."

"They are still beasts. They are not human. They do not have culture. They do not have respect. They do not know how to act among company."

"Well... what about the Weasleys? They are human and have culture, but they don't have respect or know how to act in company."

Blaise sniffed, "They are animals, not beasts."

Pansy giggled and wound her arm through Blaise's before reaching back and pulling Draco forward so she could walk arm in arm with the two. "What about you, Drakie? What do you think?"

"I will have to agree with Zabini on this. They are not quite beasts, but they aren't educated enough to be considered a well-bred human."

"But they are still humans, yes?"

"Pansy, stop arguing." Zabini ordered lightly. "They are human, but not the purebloods that they should be."

They were standing in front of the Defense room, still bantering when they heard the dull _thunk_ of Moody's stump coming up behind them.

With a gentle shove, Theodore had them in the class with the door firmly closed behind them. As they were settling in the back, the Hufflepuffs entered with the rest of the Slytherins - Greengrass, Bulstrode, and Davis. The three Slytherins sat with the others, ignoring the gabbling Hufflepuffs.

"So back on the subject -" Pansy stuck her tongue out at Blaise when he sent her a tiny frown. Focusing back on the door, she said, "Oh, look, the professor's in."

Nott slouched a little bit, but catching Blaise's eye, he was back into his 'proper' sitting position. Yet he gave a tiny flinch every time he heard the _thunk_ until he saw Moody walking to his desk across the room.

"Today's lesson is the Imperius Curse. All of you will be put under it so you understand its power and to see if any of you," Moody turned to face them all, his magical eye roaming across the room," can resist its effect."

A blonde girl rose her hand, keeping her eyes downcast and never looking the professor head on.

"Miss Abbot."

"Um... I thought you said that -"

"Speak up, or don't speak at all."

Hannah jumped a bit, leaving the chair, but she did speak again, in a louder voice, "You said that those curses are illegal, Professor. Why would you be testing them out on us?"

"Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like. If you'd rather learn the hard way - when someone's putting it on you so they can control you completely - fine by me. You're excused. Off you go."

The girl shook her head, her face becoming a blooming shade of red. "N-no sir. I'd rather stay and learn."

Moody just huffed and pointed to Crabbe. "Up!"

The thick boy blinked once or twice, looking around him for a moment before lumbering to his feet. He shuffled his feet a little bit before Pansy nudged him forward to get him walking. He didn't stop until he was in front of Moody.

"_Imperio!"_

The boy turned back around, and Draco could see the boy's glazed eyes. Unable to keep it to himself, Draco shivered a tiny bit. But everyone was too busy watching Goyle perform spells that he wouldn't have been able to do on his own to focus on the blonde.

Without any consent from himself, Draco was dragged back to a different time. To when he was younger, to when everything stopped being fun and games.

* * *

"_Lucius, no! You can't! He's only eight. You can't make him go through something like this at -"_

"_Narcissa! You will do as I say and leave!" Lucius' voice boomed around the room, making the white-blonde hair boy jump from his chair. "You! Sit!" With his father's finger pointing at him, Draco didn't have any other option but to listen._

_Narcissa stood her ground another minute before looking at her son, "Are you sure you have to do it?"_

"_I wouldn't do it otherwise." Nodding, Narcissa squeezed her eyes shut. She took a step towards Draco, but her husband's next words made her stop. "You are making it more difficult than it needs to be. Leave."_

_Draco watched as tears dripped from his mother's eyes. "Mum," his high pitched voice was murmured, and for a second he didn't think she heard him. But then she looked at him, her mouth trembling. "Dad won't do anything to hurt me."_

_She barely shook her head, blonde hair spilling over her shoulders. More tears leaked down her cheeks, and Draco was about to spring to her when she fled the room._

"_Will Mum be alright, Dad?"_

"_She will be. Draco," Lucius walked around his desk to kneel in front of his son. "You know I will do anything to protect you, right?"_

"_Yep!"_

"_Say it correctly, Draco."_

_With a sigh, Draco sat up taller and replied, "Yes, Dad."_

"_Good. Now be still." Draco watched wide-eyed as his father drew his wand. "_Imperio_."_

* * *

Shaking his head, he watched as Susan Bones did some dance moves across the room. Her hands were held perfectly in place, each move done to the correct degree, each step was confidant, her eyes seemingly lifeless.

"Not a one of ya." Moody gave another swish of his wand and Bones slid to the ground holding her head. "Nott, get up here."

Taking a deep breath, the tall boy got to his feet and dragged himself in front of his professor.

* * *

_Draco lay in front of his father, clutching the sides of his face, a grin in place. "Dad, I did stuff I couldn't do on my own!" He was giggling and smiling, but the look on his father's face made it all flow away._

"_No, Draco. That isn't good."_

"_Why not?" The boy pouted, "I've always wanted to do tumbling, but you've always said no. But I got to do it this time around, and I did it right!"_

"_No, Draco." When the boy huffed, Lucius continued, "I was controlling you. Telling you what to do. I thought you told me, a few days ago, that you hated me telling you what to do."_

_Mumbling, Draco shook his head._

_Lucius looked at his son in surprise, "You _like_ taking orders?"_

_Still on his bum, Draco scuffed his feet against the floor. "You always say that to protect Mum and you I have to listen and do as you say. The one time I didn't listen, I got Mum sick." Tears spilled down his face. "I lied when I told you that I don't like listening."_

"_Ok, but when someone tells you to do something in your mind, no matter who it is or how fun it sounds, you don't do it. Do you understand me?"_

_Draco nodded and wiped his tears away. "Ok, I won't listen to them. I promise."_

"_We're going to try something else now. You remember I love you, don't you?"_

"_Yes, Dad."_

"_Good." Bending down, Lucius pressed his lips against his son's forehead. Then he got back to his feet, wand in hand. "Forgive me."_

_Cocking his head to the side, Draco asked, "For what?"_

"Cruico."

* * *

Laughter pulled him out of his memory. In front of him was Theodore Nott standing on his - Draco's - desk and acting like a monkey.

"Ah, that got his attention!"

Draco leaned back and watched, not able to laugh along with the rest of his class. All he could think about was numbing pain.

Suddenly Nott's eyes cleared and a blush covered his neck and face as to where he was standing and doing. Draco merely raised an eyebrow until the other boy realized he could move on his own and got off the blonde's desk with a mumbled apology.

"Malfoy! Since you are not enjoying the demonstrations, you're next."

Draco rolled his shoulders before moving to stand in front of the class, hands in his pockets. Looking over his shoulder, he sent a smirk over to Pansy who giggled.

"Ah, aren't you a cheeky one." Draco looked back at Moody and found a wand pointed at his face. "We'll see how cheeky you are after _this! Imperio!_"

Draco felt lightheaded and his worries started to slip away. However, he was back in control seconds later, keeping his eyes down. Then he could hear Moody's voice in his head: _Jump onto the desk_... _jump onto the desk_.

He shifted his weight, wondering if he would follow the instruction or not. His mind went back to the promise he made when he was eight.

_Jump onto the desk._

Still unsure, Draco kept his muscles coiled in retaliation.

_Jump! NOW!_

Knowing he had to do something, Draco walked forward and placed his hands on the edge of the desk. With a fluid movement, he hopped onto the table to sit comfortably with his legs neatly crossed in front of him.

Silence greeted his movements. Moody seemed surprised, his magic eye twirling around everywhere. "You are full of surprises, young Malfoy."

Feeling the curse being lifted, he finally flicked his head to the side so his bangs stopped hiding his eyes.

"You were able to follow the orders, but in your own way. Very good, Malfoy. You will be hard to control."

The words made Draco want to shudder, but he merely smirked and dropped back to his feet and went to his seat.

* * *

During Potions the next day, no one was really paying attention. The Gryffindors were more obvious and many of them had to test their concoctions before they left thirty minutes ahead of schedule. The only Gryffindor who got out of it was Neville, which was surprising. Unless McGonagall told Severus to make sure the clumsy boy didn't miss the entrance of the other schools students.

As soon as the bell rang, students were up and rushing out to get to their common rooms as soon as possible. At least that was what the Gryffindors had to do because they were up on the seventh floor.

The Slytherin's, however, all packed up with quick efficiency, not seeming to rush. They made their way inside their dorms to put their things away. Then they sat or stood around waiting for Professor Snape to come collect them.

"It's a shame we couldn't have watched Longbottom get some new boils." Nott was leaning against the wall, arms crossed in front of his willowy frame. The girls rolled their eyes while the two oafs nodded.

"It would be entertaining if it were something new." Malfoy said, looking down at his nails. "If it gave him a nose-bleed, or something else, it would be funnier than everything we've seen so far."

Blaise shook his head, "I would rather they take him out of potions. He's diminishing our time with his stupidity."

"Yes, but then class wouldn't be so amusing." Pansy stood firmly in-between Malfoy and Zabini, arms lazily hanging by her sides. "Who else blows things up - besides Finnigan - on a regular basis?"

"It helps that we toss some things that don't belong in his cauldron." Nott chuckled even as the hidden door slid open to reveal their Head of House.

"Line up. First years in front; seventh years at the end. You have ten seconds to get in position." Snape's words were barked out, his low voice cool and even. Students hurried into place. As soon as the ten seconds had passed, Snape was heading out, not caring if everyone else was ready or not.

They went up the stairs and out of the dungeons. They exited the large double doors that lead outside. They stood in the courtyard, alone for a while before Hufflepuffs joined them, shortly followed by Ravenclaws. Of course the Gryffindors came out last.

Keeping his eyes focused in front of him, Draco glared at the outside. He pulled his coat tighter around him, puffs of annoyed breath seen before him. Slowly rubbing his arms inside his coat, he tried not to be too noticeable.

Minutes went by and Draco was scowling at everything. If someone brushed against him, he sent them a quiet snarl and received a hasty apology from his fellow Slytherins.

It was nearing 6 o'clock. Everything was still, except for the students. Everything was quiet, except for the students.

Finally, a first year year screeched, "It's a dragon!"

Dennis Creevey - the one that didn't carry a camera everywhere - said in a calmer manner, but still loud and obnoxious, "Don't be stupid... it's a flying house!"

Loathe to admit the boy was right, Draco watched a carriage appear in the sky. It was pulled by huge, powder-blue palomino horses; each of the twelve were about the size of an elephant with wings that was longer than a man.

When it landed with a thud, Draco had to hold back a chortle when Neville Longbottom jumped a foot to the side, stepping on Damion Shint's foot. The Slytherin boy slowly turned his head, sneering down at the cowering Gryffindor beside him.

A boy, wearing light blue robes, jumped down from the large, house-shape carriage which had everyone's attention back to the newcomers. He worked with something at the bottom of the entryway for a few seconds before lowering steps down to the earth so everyone else could exit in a more dignified manner.

A shiny, high-heeled black shoe that seemed to be the size of a child's sled appeared on the top step, soon followed by a matching foot. In seconds, the largest woman Draco had ever seen was towering over them. Her face was handsome, the tone a light olive color. Her eyes were like black liquid. Yet her nose was beak-like, and her black hair was pulled back into a tight knob at the base of her neck. Her entire body was covered from head to foot in black satin, contrasting nicely with her skin-tone. Opals gleamed at her throat and thick fingers.

Professor Dumbledore started clapping, everyone soon joining in. A gracious smile appeared on the large woman's face as she stepped down and headed for the Hogwarts Headmaster. However, they were too far away from Draco for him to hear anything, so he placed his attention back on the carriage.

By then, students were emerging, though there were only about a dozen in total. There was a mix of boys and girl, but mostly females. They all wore the light blue robes, and some wore scarves around their throats or on top of their heads, already shivering.

They joined their Headmistress, standing behind her. After a few minutes, the Madame had lead her charges inside, many faces from the Beauxbatons showing relief.

As soon as the blue robed kids were out of sight, whispers took over again. Almost every face was turned up, people pointing at every little speck that looked like another carriage coming.

Suddenly, some eerie noise drifted towards them from the shadows that had started growing. Every second it grew louder. It was a loud sucking sound, like someone trying to pick up the last ounce of drink in their glass through a straw.

Draco sent a glance to Blaise who stood on the other side of Pansy. The dark boy's eye was twitching, his mouth turned down and pressed into a tight line.

"The lake! Look at the lake!" The voice sounded familiar, so Draco turned, trying to place a face to it. His eyes landed on a dark skinned boy pointing at the water, standing in-between the twins. Before anyone could see him looking in their direction without a sneer in place, the aristocratic boy looked towards the body of water.

Unlike the smooth surface it usually had, it was rippling and splashing around in a circular motion. Bubbles formed at the center, and after another few seconds, a whirlpool replaced the frothing water.

A long, black pole began to rise. Then rigging followed, and Harry shouted out, "It's a mast!"

The ship rose out of the whirlpool, gleaming in the moonlight. It looked like it had been drug from the bottom of an ocean. The wood carvings were old, fading, and chipping. Misty lanterns, that barely gave any light, were hung everywhere, shedding green light like a fog.

For a moment, the ship inched towards them, and then the anchor was thrown. Water splashed towards them, but the students were too far away to get wet.

People began to disembark. Most of them had similar body structures as Crabbe and Goyle had; thick and bulky. But then they walked closer and it was noticeable that what made most of the bulk were cloaks of thick fur.

The man leading the way didn't wear the brown furs as his students, but silver that matched his hair. "Dumbledore!" He called out, Blaise narrowing his eyes at the loud man. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?"

"Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff," was Dumbledore's reply before the Durmstrang Headmaster was close enough to not yell.

Karkoff was a slim, tall man, about the same height as Dumbledore. Except his silver hair was short and he had a goatee that just barely curled instead of a long, straight beard. And when he smiled, Draco scrunched up his nose at the sight of yellow teeth.

* * *

After what felt like forever, they headed inside to eat. Since they were closest to the entrance, the Slytherin's were in the Great Hall before anyone else.

The students from Beauxbatons were already sitting at the Ravenclaw table, their scarves still clutched around their throats and heads. They all had glum looks on their faces as they looked around, not even talking to each other.

The Ravenclaws hurried over and started filling in spots next to the blue cloaked strangers. Malfoy rolled his eyes and led the way to the Slytherin table, keeping spaces open around him and his posse.

The Gryffindors trudged in, and a few of them were pushing at each other and waving at Viktor Krum so that he could sit by them. The Hufflepuffs, however, we all wide-eyed and moved slowly past the Durmstrang students.

Krum looked around, and when he saw the Slytherin's already sitting, with spots clearly open, he headed over there. He sat next to Draco, picking up the golden cup. "Vhere are the drinks and food?" He put the glass back down and looked at the Malfoy heir for an answer.

Giving a polite smile, Draco leaned forward to block Nott's goggling eyes and answered, "They'll come when the feast begins."

Blaise, who sat in front of the two beside Pansy, corrected him lightly, "The house-elves are waiting for the signal Dumbledore gives them. It will begin shortly."

Pansy giggled, "Please excuse the boys for not introducing themselves, the blonde is Draco Malfoy, this is Blaise Zabini, the spiky black haired boy is Theodore Nott, and I'm Pansy Parkinson."

Blaise sent a frown in Pansy's direction before turning back to Krum and inclining his head. "Excuse me for being rude."

Viktor merely chuckled and waved a hand, "No vorries, it is my fault. I vas too enchanted with these instruments, and the ceiling is vonderful."

Taking a glimpse at the sky, Draco saw it was just like it had been outside right before they came inside. Dark, with small, shimmering stars just noticeable.

When Draco looked back at Krum, he and the other Durmstrang students were taking off their fur coats. When they were all peeled back, they were revealed to be wearing blood-red robes. All in all, the Durmstrangs were a small group. There couldn't have been more than twelve.

The Beauxbatons suddenly leapt to their feet, unflinching when some other students laughed. The headmistress and headmasters had entered the room and were heading to the Head Table. When Madame Maxime sat down on Dumbledore's left, her students followed suit at their respective spots.

With Karkoff at his right, Dumbledore began, "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - guests. I have the great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable."

A Beauxbaton girl who still kept her muffler wrapped tightly around her head gave a derisive laugh. The others with her all looked at Dumbledore as if he had gone a bit mad.

"The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast," Dumbledore continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted. "I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home." When he sat, food and drink took their spots on their tables.

"This is vonderful!" Krum grinned. "Back at our castle, the elves vould just carry them out on plate for us to eat."

Pansy nodded eagerly and began to talk in earnest with the Quidditch player. Nott kept trying to get past Malfoy, but Draco angled himself so it wouldn't be possible for the other boy to get much said in the conversation

At one point during the meal, two other people entered the room quietly, barely drawing any attention to themselves. Ludo Bagman was sitting on Karkoff's right, and Mr. Crouch sat to Madame Maxime's left.

Once every plate had been emptied and every stomach full, Dumbledore once again got to his feet. He stayed quiet until every eye was on him, not even a murmur of noise leaving any of the students. "The moment has come. The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket. We will take a moment just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the department of International Magical Cooperation" - Dumbledore had to wait a few moments for the small burst of applause to die down - "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

Dumbledore once again kept his mouth closed with a smile as the louder, more enthusiastic clapping overtook the students. Bagman had raised his hand and waved it with a large grin while Crouch sat with his back straight and kept staring straight ahead.

"Crouch needs to relax a bit," Pansy muttered.

Draco shook his head, letting Blaise answer. "I see nothing wrong with how he is conducting himself."

"Yeah, it's because of the stick up his ass."

"Parkinson," Draco muttered while Krum gave a quiet chuckle.

Pansy pouted but kept quiet so they could hear what their Headmaster was saying. "Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament, and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

There was no more talking, every eye was on Professor Dumbledore. Pansy, who looked about to say something else to Blaise, snapped her mouth closed and she was staring at the Headmaster, waiting to hear what was said next.

"The casket, then, if you please, Mr. Filch."

Every head turned to Mr. Filch who stood in a far corner. The old man glared at everyone as he approached Dumbledore carrying a huge wooden chest covered with jewels. Mrs. Norris followed close behind, meowing every now and then with her tail swishing.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. crouch and Mr. Bagman," Dumbledore watched as Filch carefully placed the chest on the table, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways... their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

Someone coughed, and everyone gave a tiny flinch, but Dumbledore just kept on talking.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament, one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

Dumbledore took out his wand from his sleeve and tapped the casket three times on the lid. The top opened, creaking softly. He reached into the opening, pulling out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup. It was filled to the brim with blue-white flames dancing everywhere.

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

"Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all."

* * *

"Drakie, did you know that Theo's in the Hospital Wing?"

"Really? What did he do?"

"Malfoy, is that needed to be asked?" The three - Draco, Blaise, and Pansy - sat at the table, the sun not even fully risen. There was really no one else in the room except for a few students in red robes meandering about.

Draco looked over at Blaise, eyes narrowing. "Of course it does, what he does reflects us all as Slytherins."

"What I meant was, is it necessary to ask when it's obvious what he did? He left extremely early this morning, probably in an attempt to put his name in. I didn't follow, but he never returned."

"The goblet saw through whatever trick he tried to pull."

"You don't sound vorried." Krum walked over to them, sitting between Pansy and Draco.

"As long as no one else know what's happened, it's hardly my concern what that prat does to himself." Draco picked up a piece of toast, bringing it to his lips even as some Gryffindors walked in. "Have you already put you name in?"

"All of us have," The other Durmstrang students nodded, seating themselves in chairs nearby. "No vone from the other school's have."

Draco nodded, eyes falling on the goblet with the golden circle encompassing it. A loud laugh caused every head to turn - though there was only about twenty students, since there were no professors there.

The twins were hurrying over to Harry and Ron, a vial in their hands. "Done it," one whispered loudly enough to be heard across the hall. "Just taken it." He handed the bottle to Ron.

"What?" The younger red-headed boy looked at the vial with his eyebrows raised high.

"The Aging Potion, dung brains."

"One drop for us. We only need to be a few months older," the other twin said. "For you lot, I would take at least four."

Draco watched Harry shake his head, "No. I don't want to sign up for it. Too much attention as it is, being the boy-who-lived."

"Aww, come off it, Harry! It's the Triwizard Tournament!"

Hermione reached forward and slapped Ron's arm that was already rising the vial to his lips. "_Ronald_! At the very least - since there is nothing I can say to change your mind - watch to see if it even works."

He huffed, but nodded.

"Vhat are they doing?" Krum asked, leaning towards Pansy.

"Being idiots," she sniffed, "like usual."

"Ready?" One twin asked, "C'mon then - I'll go first - "

He pulled a slip of parchment out of his pocket, and the boy next to him patted his shoulder. Almost jolting back, Draco's eyes widened marginally. Lee was standing in-between the twins, a grin in place.

Taking a deep breath, the twin stepped over the line. For a moment, it seemed to work, and the other twin gave a shout and leapt to his brother's side. But then there was a loud sizzle, and both twins were thrown from the golden circle.

They landed with hard thuds, ten feet from the circle. Even as they sat up, identical beards sprouted from their chins to dangle low beneath their chins.

Pansy started giggling, Krum started chortling, and Blaise was sniggering quietly to himself. Unable to hold it back, Draco gave in to his laugh, letting it boom gleefully around the room. All the Gryffindors heads spun towards the blonde.

The twins eyes were wide, Ron's were narrowed, Harry looked confused, Hermione puzzled. Holding onto his sides, Draco was able to wheeze out when he calmed down marginally, "Finally, a look that's worse than usual. I didn't even think it was possible."

"Ha ha, bloody funny, Malfoy," Ron snapped, turning red. But Draco wasn't paying attention to him, the twins were once again smirking at him, but instead of looking away, the blonde locked his gray-blue eyes on theirs and sneered at them.

"I did warn you," Dumbledore's voice, deeply amused, had everyone looking at the elder man standing in the doorway. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers, of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours."

The two set off, with Lee still howling with laughter.

Minutes passed before Lawrence Vaisey and Loki Maltori strode in, smirking at the other Slytherin's before putting their names in the goblet.

Ignoring everybody else, Draco continued on with his breakfast as students began to trickle in.

* * *

Later that night, Draco froze as he heard the one name he hadn't been expecting to hear: "_Harry Potter."_

"Shit," he whispered, and for a moment he couldn't be bothered that Blaise had turned narrowed eyes on him.

* * *

A/N Also, this is being beta'd by AJ Freas, who is just awesome and is also writing an excellent story of Harry being sorted into Slytherin. If you guys like that kind of story, you should check it out. :) It's called Same Destination, Different Journey


	11. A Bit Odd

A/N Another early chapter because I cranked another one out last night :D This chapter was hard to write... so if it isn't the best, I'm sorry. (I can readily say that this is one of my least favorite chapters...) :D

Some small portions of conversations are taken from the book, though different people say different things. And I tweaked some things in the book and bla bla bla. :)

Also, there's a portion that's in another person's viewpoint. Nope, not telling you until you read. Lol. And I'm sorry that this chapter is shorter than a lot of the chapters.

* * *

_Draco,_

_The Goblet of Fire can not be tampered with. It is, and will forever be, an impartial judge. The only way that it could have been fooled is if they put Harry Potter in as a different student from a different school. In that way effectively placing him as the only student from that school to enter, meaning he was chosen to represent that school in the tournament._

_Now that his name has been pulled out, he has no other option but to compete. Before you ask, Draco, it doesn't matter if he didn't put in his name himself. It is still his name that was pulled out, hence he is the one who will have to go through with it even if he has no desire to do so._

_There is nothing we can do. All we can do is wait and watch for the end._

_Father_

* * *

Draco sat in front of the Come and Go Room, knees brought up to chest with his chin resting on them. It was quiet, for a Saturday. No one went near the dead-end when they could be outside. He should have been with them, but for some reason, Draco had gravitated towards the room.

He must have been insane, wasting his free time there. But he didn't know where else he wanted to be.

Looking at the watch on his wrist, the blonde huffed before letting his head _thump_ against the wall. "_Bloody hell_," he whispered.

_3:51_

He had left to come up at noon. He had just been sitting there for almost four hours.

With a fierce frown, Draco got to his feet, dusting off his robes. As he stood in front of the blank wall, he ignored the disgusting trolls attempting to dance in the portrait behind him. Right before he started to pace, he heard voices coming towards him.

"I can't shake it, Fred." A voice muttered as two, red-headed figures sauntered down the hallway.

"I know what you mean, George." The two were walking closer, heads close together.

"This hallway..."

"... seems of no importance..."

"...yet there has to..."

"... be some reason it..."

"... is here; Hogwarts..."

"... doesn't make random hallways."

The two nodded and began to inspect the hallway. Draco held back a groan, wishing the two were distracted in the library.

Heat rushed up his neck, and suddenly he wished his mind could be _scourgified._ He pressed tightly against the wall when they broke off, with one of them heading directly towards him. However, one went to the dead end area while the other stopped less than a foot from Draco to inspect the wall there.

They were both muttering, brows furrowed in thought.

One had both hands on the wall, tracing every path. "Odd... Does this... No... What about... No, no... Why can't... Is this... No..."

The other, who stood inches away from the blonde, had his eyes gazing over everything. His hands were in his pockets as he talked softly to himself, "This cranny leads to this nook, it could possibly mean somewhere. And all these different bricks could be something similar to Diagon Alley. George, did you bring the notebook?"

The other twin didn't bother looking away from the section he was inspecting. He just reached into his robe with one hand and tossed the tattered book at his twin - Draco having to duck before it hit him in the head.

"Excellent. Any ideas?" Fred moved away from the fourteen year old boy, instead going over to the opposite wall.

"A few... Give me more time..."

Fred had his nose in the book, scribbling things, glancing up now and again to jot them down. The other twin, George, was moving closer and closer to Draco. Pale hands were ghosting across the bumpy surface, mouth parted as incoherent sentences kept leaving the older teen's mouth in a jumbled mess.

When Draco finally made a move to get out of the way, Fred's raucous laughter had both of the other two turned to see what the boy thought was funny. He was doubled over and pointing at the picture of Barnabas. "When will... you give it up, Barnabas?" He choked out.

The frail looking man dropped his hands and turned around to face the boy. Brown eyes met lighter ones, the latter one filled with mirth. The man in the portrait sniffed, turning his face around. "Never; they will understand." Sticking his nose up in the air, Barnabas closed his eyes. "When will you two fiends stop pestering my lessons? You will not learn this secret alone, only one knows."

"Has someone found what's here?"

Barnabas opened one eye, "I will say only one thing and one thing only: many have witnessed the secret in this hall, but only a few have ever known the secret."

George raced up to stand next to his brother. "Who? Who has learned its secret?"

Draco's heart dropped, and he gripped his robes tightly around him. He has been disillusioned every time he came to the room. Not once did he lower the spell before he entered the room. Not once.

"I haven't a clue, they come in secret, never to be seen. Even if I did know who holds the answers to your questions, I have no intentions of telling you fiends. Now be off, my lesson is not complete for the day." He shot a glare at the two boys before turning back to his trolls. "Now, lets try that pirouette again, shall we? On three: one, two, _three_."

The trolls went back to... spasming, but cool, blue-gray eyes were focused on the twins.

Both were pouting at the painting before they both snapped their heads to each other, whispering, "_Harry_" at the same time. Then the two took off in record speed to who knows where.

Taking their leave as an opening, Draco quickly opened the door, but before he could enter, Barnabas' voice traveled to him, "Boy, we paintings are not stupid, you know. We know when a student is near us, even if we can't see them. Yes, I know you're a boy, but that is only because you muttered something earlier. Do not worry, your secret is safe with Barnabas the Barmy. Never once have you distracted me from my teaching. What a good lad you are. Now, go on into the room, before those fiends come back and die of shock to see the door open for all eyes to see."

Though surprised that the painting called himself crazy, Draco smiled, sending a soft, "_thank you_" towards the other. The man just waved a hand, attention back on his students. Without another word, Draco entered and the door closed silently.

Looking around, Draco sighed as he tapped himself, lowering the spell. "Seriously? Why are you still bloody like this?" The room still looked how he left it. The wall covered with vile words, the lone candle high above, the table with his diary, and even the hammock was still in place. "Well, at least I've thought a bit since I've last been here."

He waved a hand and three words appeared on the _Draco/Dray _side: _expressive_ and _hates mornings_.

Seemingly appeased, the room transferred back into it's first form, the two-sided board disappearing to be replaced by books.

With a grin, Draco grabbed the tin of cookies and marched to the hammock. He climbed aboard, leaving his left foot dangling, while he stared at the view of the ocean. The cookies lay on his lap, one hand moving a single cookie towards his mouth.

He cringed only a tiny bit when crumbs fell on his clothing.

He swung for a short while, eyes slowly beginning to drift closed. His mind already wandering to safer places, but then he jolted up, the tin clattering to the floor. Pieces of cookies scattered, disappearing as soon as they touched the ground. Once it was empty, more cookies filled the missing ones, and it zoomed back to its place on the table.

Draco put both his feet on the ground, hands cradling his head. Seconds passed by, and slowly the minutes followed. Then, without looking up, Draco croaked one word, body shaking, "Dobby."

A loud _crack!_ announced the presence of the elf, but Draco didn't look up. His fingers were clenching his hair, tugging at the strands with his eyes tightly screwed shut.

Soon, a shuffled sound could be heard, getting louder. When a trembling finger touched his knee, Draco jerked back onto the hammock. He clutched his legs close to his chest, trying to keep his gaze down.

After a few minutes of silence, Draco finally peeked out, eyes wary. But then he fumbled backwards until he fell off the hammock stammering, "What the hell?"

"Master Draco," the elf murmured, hands wringing in front of him. "Master Draco has finally called Dobby. Dobby has missed Master Draco."

Fuming, Draco stood, one hand planted in his hair while the other dug deeply into his pocket. He paced restlessly, glaring at everything, his magic roaring to life around him.

It crackled and snapped. The air sizzled. Everything around Draco was a bright white.

"You. Left. Me." Draco snapped, finally stopping to stand in front of the trembling elf. "Why? Why did you do it?"

"I hads to, Master Draco! I hads to!"

The magic was sucked back into Draco as quickly as it had come out. The boy stood tall, back straight. The room changed once more into the dreary room.

"No!" The elf moaned. 'You just got your room back!"

"You left me, Dobby." He was ignoring everything the elf said, voice hard. But then, his voice came out again, softer, smaller, "What did I do so terribly wrong that you had to leave us? What did I do wrong that you left me all alone?"

Dobby, who had hidden behind his hands, quickly looked at Draco. "No, sir! You dids nothing wrong! You said protect Harry Potter, sir! I could only did so much while being with you sir."

Instead of making Draco calm, more shutters fell into place. "Bloody Potter, taking everything I love and ripping it from me." The hammock shimmered out of existence.

"Master Draco, I... I is very happy to see you."

Finally seeing the little, shaking elf standing in front of him, Draco sighed. "I just don't understand."

"To protect Master Draco, I must protect family; to protect family, I must protect Harry Potter." Dobby nodded, wide-eyed. "I is very happy, Master Draco is safe. Can I... still make you cookies... for dinners?"

Tennis ball eyes pleaded with Draco and all the anger he felt just vanished. That was when he noticed, again, what the elf wore: a tea cozy covered in badges for a hat, a horseshoe patterned tie over a bare chest, some sort of child shorts, and mismatching socks. He managed to mutter, "Yes, Dobby, you can."

The elf bounced up and down, clapping his hands happily. "I cans now help Master Draco more!"

Draco smiled at the excited creature, his hand rubbing his forehead before he asked, "Dobby, what are you wearing?"

He just groaned when Dobby squealed.

* * *

Two days later, Draco's lips were curled and his nose scrunched up as he, Pansy, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle walked towards Care of Magical Creatures. The smell was horrid. It was like a mixture of rotten cabbage and slugs combined.

"Drakie," Pansy cooed in his ear, making the boy want to shudder, "you look you have a worm on your face." She brought up a finger to trace his cheek, but Draco caught her wrist before she could touch him.

"Do not say such absurd things." He threw her arm down and glared at her. "Do not touch me."

Watching Draco's back, Pansy pouted, already turning towards Blaise, but then went racing back to the blonde boy.

"Today, yeh lot are getting inta pairs. 'Arry and Ron, e'course, Hermione and Neville." The list went on, but the Slytherin's simply ignored who they were paired with and made their own groups. Hagrid just grunted before stomping over to the flobberworms, or whatever creature they were.

When Pansy had tried to be Draco's partner, the boy just sneered at her before nudging her towards a Gryffindor - Fay Dunbar if Draco remembered correctly - and muttered, "Give the Gryffindor hell for us." It didn't really matter if the brunette was pure-blood or not. She was Gryffindor. That was all that really mattered.

Hagrid plopped an ugly creature in front of them, Blaise taking a small step back to put Draco closest to the things. "I have no desire to touch the Blast-Ended Skrewt."

Ah, that's what they were.

When everyone had their own skrewt, Hagrid gave a huge grin, his voice pounding nails into Draco's head. "Now, fer today all yeh will be doing is watchin' the skrewts. See 'ow they interact with each other."

With that, the 'Professor' walked around, commenting here and there. Blaise and Draco kept a healthy distance away - about five feet - and whenever the thing moved, they mirrored the movements.

When he peeked over his shoulder, Draco saw Hagrid heading towards them and got a brilliant idea. Well, maybe Dobby had given it to him, but that hardly mattered. Once again looking at the skrewt that seemed intent on following them, he asked, "Zabini, were you told about the first task?"

The movement behind him froze even as the Italian boy turned a narrowed gaze at the blonde. "No."

"It's _dragons_." A smirk easily graced Malfoy's face, as well as the soft laughter that spilled from his lips. "I'm hoping that Potter is burned."

"You want him to die? Really, Malfoy, I didn't know you loathed him that much."

"No, no, not kill him. Just burn him. More to use against him."

Suddenly a large shadow overcame them, a rough voice speaking, "Yeh ain't goin' to learn a thing if yeh keep runnin' from the skrewt."

The two boys turned cool eyes to the large man. "We don't want to learn anything from you," Draco snapped and, looking back to the skrewt, both of the Slytherin's took another step back.

"You don't want to learn anything, Malfoy," a sharp retort had Draco and Blaise shifting their attention towards the golden trio and Neville. All three had frowns on their face while the other Gryffindor shuffled his feet while ignoring the attention.

"Weasel, you know nothing. This class is utterly useless."

"There is plenty to learn." Hermione stepped forward, a tiny glare in her eyes.

The smirk that had disappeared expressed itself once again. "Really, Granger? What is so entertaining about these... creatures?" Looking over at his said creature, Draco inched farther from the Skrewt and closer to the four students with the red and gold ties.

"This is ah lesson, not an argument." Hagrid growled, but Draco ignored him.

"That's because there is no real answer."

"There is nothing wrong with Skrewts!"

"I can certainly see why we're trying to keep them alive. Who wouldn't want pets that can burn, sting, and bite all at once?"

"Just because they're not very pretty, it doesn't mean they're not useful! Drago-"

"Yes, Granger," Draco interrupted. "We all know - well... at least the Slytherin's all know - that Dragon blood's amazingly magical. We also know that Skrewts stingers are used in potions. However, you would want neither to have as a pet, nor in close enough range to do damage to you." Hagrid moved onto another group, mumbling under his breath.

Even as he said that, he looked over his shoulder. Seeing the skrewt still coming at him, he took a few steps toward the Gryffindor's and away from the chasing menace, now only a foot and a half from the other group, Blaise right behind him.

"Oooh, scared of the skrewt?"

Draco just pointed behind the red-head and held back a chuckle when Ron said, "Right, like I'm going to lis - ARGH!" The shout of pain had Draco giving up and chuckling under his breath. Harry's and Ron's Skrewt had inched up behind them and blasted Ron in the back of the leg.

Blaise gave him a nudge at the small of his back, hidden from view from the others. Getting the hint, Draco turned with a tiny frown in place. The two went back to avoiding their Skrewt while the Gryffindor's tried to get Ron to stop squirming around.

Sighing, the two Slytherin's started throwing things around the Skrewt to get its attention off them. Blaise didn't necessarily throw anything, just kicked rocks while Draco was crouched and tossed anything that he could reach.

It was going to be a long period.

* * *

That Saturday, Hagrid ambled around the outside of his hut, scratching his shaggy head. The sun was already up, and students were heading into Hogsmeade. When he saw Ron and Hermione he waved a giant hand towards them.

They all returned the gesture before turning back to each other.

Biting his lip, he pulled on his beard before he meandered back into his hut.

He pitted about: he put fresh logs into the simmering fire, he patted Fang on the head, he put fresh water in his kettle, and he paced a bit.

Minutes passed before Hagrid nodded and removed the kettle from the fire. He had Fang stay inside before closing the door behind him. He followed some distance away from a Slytherin group, the white-blonde hair a giveaway.

A deep frown covered the huge man's face, his eyes filled with worry.

That Malfoy boy knew more than he should have, probably from his daddy. Yet Hagrid didn't doubt the validity of his comment. After all, he had sent a message to Charlie Weasley soon after that class, wondering if what the boy said held any merit.

The letter back was more than enough proof that it was anything but false. Charlie had even told Hagrid where the dragons were in case he wanted to see them.

Worry had dug deep roots in Hagrid. Whenever he saw Harry, all he could see was the boy covered in burns.

Sure, the boy had survived Fluffy - and You-Know-Who - his first year. A Basilisk - and You-Know-Who - his second year. And a full flock of dementors the year before. Still, Harry had already been through so much. If anyone could do it, then Harry could. But he still wanted to help.

Hagrid narrowed his eyes on Malfoy as he talked with the other Slytherin's, posture straight as a rod. One time, his body trembled with laughter, yet only a small chuckle would drift back to Hagrid. The boy was full of contradictions, and Hagrid didn't understand why anyone would want to be like that.

Shaking his head, he drifted away from them as they entered Hogsmeade.

For an hour or two, he just walked around. Everyone he saw knew him by name, as he knew theirs. Every few minutes he had to stop and hold a conversation with most folk. It wasn't like it bothered him, Hagrid naturally liked people and loved a good conversation.

He finally made it into the Three Broomsticks. The Slytherin bunch were there, and across the room were Ron and Hermione. Halfway between them, standing in the shadows, was Moody.

Since the two were in some sort of discussion over a piece of paper, Hagrid made his way to the other Professor. Before he could say anything, Moody beat him to it, "Hagrid."

"Moody, how 're yeh?"

Moody just waved a hand, his magical eye flitting around the room. His stance was rigid, and his real leg twitched every now and again. Moody reached for his flask and took a swig.

"Want any'hing else?" Hagrid gestured towards Rosmerta, but Moody shook his head.

"I have all I need."

Nodding his head, Hagrid made to head to the two Gryffindors when he spun back to the defense professor. "Moody, what do yeh know of the tasks?"

Those eyes - both of them - were fixated on the towering man. "Depends."

"The first ones dragons. Fascinating creatures, dragons."

"That they are. It's a shame the competitors know nothing of them. It is a shame they can't see them beforehand, or that we can't help them. Potter's already has enough on his plate."

Hagrid nodded eagerly, ideas already forming in his head. "That it is, Moody, that it is."

"Where did you come by this information, Hagrid? Few know of the tasks. Only those who work the tasks or judging know of them."

Hagrid shook his head, shrinking a bit at the weird light in Moody's eye. "No, no! I overheard Malfoy talking to his friend, boasting of knowing what the first task is and all. Said he couldn't wait ta see 'arry get a few burns."

The magical eye darted over to Malfoy, but then zoomed over to Ron and Hermione's group. Touching Hagrid at the middle of the back - unable to reach his shoulder - he whispered, "We are being beckoned by Potter now."

Hagrid looked over his shoulder, confused, until he remembered the invisibility cloak. The two greeted Ron and Hermione, but soon afterwards, Hagrid leaned beside Hermione. His eyes were on the S.P.E.W. notebook, but he spoke in a whisper so only the three students could hear him, " 'arry, meet me tonight at midnight at me cabin. Wear that cloak."

* * *

Draco was jolted awake by a small touch to his arm. Large bat ears were the first thing he noticed. The tea cozy was the second. "Master Draco did not wake when I appeared."

"Do I ever? Dobby, I'm no longer your master."

Dobby immediately grabbed the first thing he could grab, a book, and proceeded to hit himself over and over again. "Bad Dobby! Bad, bad Dobby!"

"Dobby! Stop!" Draco reached over and took the book from the elf. Huge watery eyes met his own.

"But, Master Draco will always be Master Draco! Even if Dobby doesn't work for his family, Master Draco is Master Draco!" The elf wailed, fat droplets falling from huge orbs.

"Alright, Dobby! I'm still your master."

"Really?" The elf squeaked.

"Yes, really."

Dobby raced to the wall and beat his head on that. "Bad Dobby! Bad, bad Dobby!"

"Dobby! Why are you doing that _now_?"

"Master Draco doubted Dobby. Master Draco must _never_ doubt his elf. His elf is always loyal, like all house-elves. When the master doesn't trust, the house-elf is bad. Very bad!"

"It's alright, Dobby. What have you found out?"

Dobby seemed to brighten up and forgot about hurting himself. "Master Draco is brilliant! The big hairy man is taking Harry Potter outside to see dragons! Like Master Draco has asked, during the night I have waited to see if Harry Potter comes, and he has! Harry Potter knows of the first task."

"Brilliant, Dobby."

The elf gave a small bow before _popping _away

The joys of having a room to yourself.

Falling back onto his bed, Draco feel immediately back to sleep, his dreams more quiet than they had been for a while. _Bloody Potter._

* * *

_Mum,_

_I bring good news. The first is that you were right about Dobby - no need to rub it in - and the second is that Harry knows of the first task. Don't worry, I've done it in a way that won't point any suspicion at me. I was just bragging to Blaise about how I know of the first task, and Hagrid happened to be nearby, eavesdropping. All that could be said is that I know far too much for a student, but that's due to the fact father is in the Ministry and that I like to brag._

_Dobby helped with the second bit, for which I am ever grateful._

_You said I would be getting a letter soon, but you never said from whom. Are you keeping that secret for some reason, Mother?_

_And does Father seem a bit... odd to you?_

_Love,_

_Draco_

* * *

A/N I just want to say, I love Fred and George! They will also be a major part in the story, but will I say how? Nope. :D They are awesome and I can't possibly leave them out even if I tried. Haha. Hope you guys liked the chapter. :D :D :D


	12. Hellions

A/N Some things are changed, of course. Bla bla bla. :) And once again, there is a scene in here I wasn't really expecting - and no, I don't mean certain people... in a way...

Enjoy!

* * *

Sitting with hundreds of other people around him, Draco glared out at the open arena. There was already a dragon there, crouched in front of her eggs. Her scales were a silver-blue, and she only had two hind legs and long, thin wings that pressed against her sides.

A Swedish Short-Snout.

Rocks were placed all around the arena. When the champions entered, they wouldn't be able to see the dragon right away. They would have to walk around the large boulder, and come face-to-face with the beast.

"Drakie! I wonder who'll get her. The others are what, again?"

"Parkinson, if you ceased your continuous ruckus you would already know the answer to your deplorable question."

Pansy barely batted an eye, refusing to look at the Italian boy on her opposite side.

Theodore answered from behind them, since Draco refused to answer once again. "The Swedish Short-Snout, of course, a Welsh Green, a Chinese Fireball, and a Hungarian Horntail."

"Wonder which one Potter will go against."

One of them should have been an Antipodean Opaleye. They were beautiful dragons, weren't really aggressive, and killed only to eat, mostly. Potter should have gotten that one.

Still frowning, the blonde looked at the sea of color surrounding him. Different houses were sitting together, talking in loud murmurs. Some were pointing at the dragon, some had their backs pointedly away from the beast, and still others were just sitting there, waiting.

When Draco had been dragged to his seat, he was relieved to see that he was mostly around other Slytherin's and Durmstrang students that were fairly easy to get along with.

The only problem he had was when he saw some Gryffindors heading in his direction, not really paying attention. It was the red-headed twins - who Barnabas the Barmy had named, rightly so, _fiends_, though he thought _hellions _fit a bit better - Lee Jordan, Hermione, and Longbottom.

Ronald Weasley was nowhere to be seen, which Draco was forever grateful for. At the moment, most of the Slytherins and the one Weasley agreed that Harry Potter was a nuisance.

Ignoring the Gryffindors that sat a few stands higher, Draco returned his attention to the dragon.

"Drakie, how many burns do you think Potter will get? I'm hoping he gets mostly charred, what about you?"

Dumbledore's voice rang out, cutting off anyone's attempt to answer the black-haired girl, "Welcome to the First Task! The goal is to pass the nesting mother and grab the golden egg. The other eggs, if damaged, will cause deduction in points. If the champions are burned or injured in their attempt to posses the golden eggs, points will be deducted. Now, without further ado, let the task begin!"

A loud whistle screamed out, the sound resonating all around. And then, seconds later, Cedric Diggory walked out. Draco felt his lip twitch a tiny bit while he thought, _well, shite!_

Pansy leaned forward, her hand grasping Draco's thigh. Cheers rang out, the Hufflepuffs were the first to jump up to scream and shout, the Ravenclaws soon following with the Slytherin's cheering from their comfortable - or as comfortable as they could be - seats. The Gryffindors clapped politely along with the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students.

Giving a small wave, the Hufflepuff boy focused on turning around the boulder. There, with its maw closed tight, the Short-Snout locked beady eyes on the yellow-robed boy.

For a second, neither moved. Unwavering black eyes were locked on the boy. The dragon crouched as well as she could over her clutch of eggs, using her wings to keep her balance. Her fangs became bared, saliva dripping towards the ground.

Bagman was talking into the microphone, but Draco charmed himself so he didn't have to hear the harping man. Thankfully, he did it enough times that those around him knew not to bother him.

The Hufflepuff took a few steps to the right, the gigantic head following his every movement. Draco immediately got bored with the boys silly antics.

After what seemed like a bit of shuffling dance, Diggory finally pulled out his wand and shot a spell off to the side of the dragon.

She was unconcerned about the one spell, sending a small blast of bright blue flame in the boy's direction, though off to the side. Unable to stop himself, he chuckled at the antics of the dragon, the sound covered by the gasps and screams of others who weren't paying attention to the trajectory point.

A finger tapped his shoulder, and Draco quickly ceased his spell. Sounds bombarded his ears. The gasps and screams he saw moments before grilled his skull for a moment.

Blaise, waiting patiently, kept a close eye on the blonde Malfoy. Though the alabaster skinned boy didn't flinch, his eyes gave a small tick to indicate that he was refraining from acting.

"Yes, Zabini?" Finally able to get his hearing under control, Draco turned to face the other boy.

Pointing over his shoulder, Blaise had to partially yell to be heard over the shrieks of delight when Diggory transformed a rock into a Labrador, "They will not cease their raucous and I have no intention of attempting to silence them. It is now your turn to deal with them."

With that, the Italian set moody brown eyes on the scene in front of him. Peeking a quick glance over his shoulder, Draco could see the twins hooting and hollering, sending different spells everywhere to hit others.

Confused, Draco shot a quick look at Blaise. At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but by the scowl on the usually calm boy's face, he knew that something had been done.

The screams had everybody's heads turning back to the boy and dragon. A blast of flame scorched a rock, thick droplets of spray sizzling against the hard surface. It glowed blue for a moment before it seemed to be sucked into the rock, not even a scratch or hint of the heat lay on the lumpy form.

Diggory didn't stop his momentum, he just continued to run forward, grabbing the egg and diving behind a boulder even as another stream of hot fire seared towards him.

In moments Dragon Trainers were racing out with Bagman screaming something into the mike. Once the Swedish Short-Snout was calmed, Cedric came from behind his hiding spot. He had the egg under one of his armpits, one of his hands hovering over his face.

He was led to a different entrance by a few teachers.

The Swedish Short-Snout was taken out of the arena, and once it was clear Diggory was once again standing in the stadium in front of the judges. After a few minutes it was decided that he would receive a total of thirty-three points.

Diggory was once again led out, a Common Welsh Green was put in the arena. That particular dragon was smaller, it's scales a deep green, it's eyes were a bright yellow.

Once Diggory was safely out of the way, and the dragon settled, another whistle blew and Fleur Delacour came out next. When Blaise nudged him again in the side, Draco looked over at him before giving a subtle nod. Letting his wand slide from its holster on his arm, Draco let it slip into his fingers.

Holding it down near his leg, Draco discreetly pointed his wand near the twins and gave a very subtle flick. Finished, he put his wand away.

Blaise rose his eyebrows at the blonde, and once again Draco gave him a tiny nod.

By now, Delacour was out and doing circles. She sent a spell towards the dragon, but the dragon just set a jet of lime green fire that swallowed the curse whole. People screamed when Delacour had to jump back from the flames.

Not caring, Draco took a glance over his shoulder, and a broad grin covered his face. Seeing it, Blaise took a look himself and gave a very soft snort. Hermione, who had been looking forward, saw Malfoy's smirk and glared.

Draco just pointed at the twins, saying loud enough so she could hear, "That color might be better than that atrocious orange.

A roar echoed around the arena, everyone turning to see the dragon baring its fangs at the Beauxbaton student.

Bored when Delacour started trying to do the same thing again - dancing around and trying to hit it with the spell - Draco turned back to the twins when Hermione burst out laughing. Blaise kept staring straight ahead, uncaring as long as Draco did something to the hellions.

Hermione was clutching her sides even when others turned to stare. Instead of chuckling like the bushy haired girl, people just rolled their eyes. There, staring at each other in confusion, were the twins sporting bright pink hair.

Shouts echoed around the stadium, and Draco turned just in time to see Delacour set a stream of water towards her skirt to stop the flames from moving upwards.

In seconds she had the golden egg and was heading towards the second entrance where Cedric had gone.

"Who did this?" One of the twins finally asked, his shoulders trembling with laughter. "This is bloody brilliant!"

"Malfoy," Blaise hissed, eyes still on the stadium as Delacour came back out to receive thirty-one points. "You were meant for them to stop their behavior, not continue it."

Draco shrugged, answering quietly, "Who is supposed to understand how they will respond to anything?"

Blaise waved a manicured hand even as the Dragon Trainers swapped out dragons once more. This time a scarlet Chinese Fireball was led into the field. She was the largest so far, even if by a tiny bit. "They react, mostly, only in amusement, it seems." He fell silent as a whistle blew and Viktor Krum walked into the field, ignoring all the cheering and went straight for the dragon.

Feeling torn between watching Krum and watching the twins freak out about their hair, Draco finally decided on the twins for levity before having to watch the wonder boy. The wonder boy who had somehow managed to get the toughest dragon out of the lot.

Fred and George were talking back and forth over the top of an amused Lee Jordan. The dark-skinned boy had his eyes glued on the Durmstrang, though, only barely listening to the antics of the two beside him.

"Boys! Seriously, Harry's next. Change your hair back to normal, it's blinding." Hermione was smiling at the two, but it was strained as her attention flicked between the two Weasley's and Krum.

Still feeling bored, Draco drummed his fingers slowly against his leg as he watched Krum aim for the dragon and shot out a spell.

She merely snorted and swallowed the spell in flame, crouching low over her clutch of eggs. Her wings were slightly spread as she rested most of her weight on her front legs.

Krum drew closer and closer to the dragon, jumping out of the way when a jet of fire streamed right at him. As soon as the fire was out, he sent another spell, hitting her right in the eye. The dragon screeched, her head rearing back.

Her feet stamped around, crushing some of the live eggs. Taking his chances, Krum raced forward and grabbed the golden egg, almost getting squished by a giant foot.

She went forward and began to beat her head against the wall of the stadium, causing it to shake and send tiny amounts of dirt falling to the ground. Her mouth opened wide, fire spewing everywhere.

Her body twisted and turned, a long, keening wail escaped her throat.

"What did he do?" Hermione shouted, jumping up and down. "Oh, no, what happened to her?"

Though he wished to answer, Draco kept his mouth firmly shut.

Being blinded was not something he wished on an animal that depended so much on it. Finally, the Dragon Trainers calmed her down enough to reverse the spell and get her out.

As everything calmed again, Krum was back out to get his score: forty. Then he was out and the final dragon was brought into the stadium.

She was huge. She was twice as big as the Chinese Fireball, who had been the largest out of the other three at about twenty-five feet. The Fireball's scales were black, her tail spiked. She fought with her captors, a screeching scream leaving her throat. Yellow eyes traveled everywhere, large jaws snapping at anyone who got too close.

When her florescent eyes locked on her eggs, she streaked forward and crouched over it. Her hind feet behind them, her front just in front of them, and her belly barely leaving any space between her and her eggs. Her tail swished even as she shot a small burst of flame from her mouth.

A whistle screamed out and Harry Potter slowly entered the arena. There were cheers, there were objections, and then there was just applause. Draco did none of the above. He simply put his spell back on so he couldn't hear anything and leaned forward to watch undisturbed.

Harry raised his wand and shouted something. A minute passed, the black-haired teen not moving, keeping his eyes on the dragon. And then, suddenly, Harry's firebolt was beside him. It quivered, as if eager to begin a game.

Then he was up in the air, his face relaxed as he swerved around.

The Horntail let out another yowl, her tail leaving meters of scourged ground around her. Her eyes and head followed his movement, but her body stayed firm where it was crouching protectively over her young eggs.

The golden egg was near the front, where it could just be seen.

Harry dove, hair being pushed back by the wind.

Draco nearly flinched when Harry did a barrel roll to dodge a large jet of molten liquid that came firing out at him.

Finally she was moving. Around and around, she circled her eggs again and again. Her wings furled and unfurled. Her neck craned, jaws snapping. Her tail thudding the ground, ripping the earth apart.

Fire landed on a boulder, instantly turning it a bright, cherry red even as steam rose into the air.

Draco's attention went back to the flying boy, going higher and higher, but never high enough for the dragon to ignore him. She sent another burst of flame into the air, going over fifty feet, and grazing Harry.

Roaring, the dragon rose onto her hind legs, wings snapping open. Her maw was open wide, and all her muscles were coiled.

But, before she could react, Harry was diving and had the golden egg in his uninjured arm before she noticed. And when she did, he was already too far away for her to get him.

In moments he was on the ground in front of a professor and led into the entrance door.

Though the trainers had difficulty with her, they were finally able to get her out of the stadium. Harry came back out a few minutes later to get his score, Ron and Hermione with him.

Turning around, Draco blinked when he saw that the bushy-haired girl really wasn't there and had somehow gotten by him to get down there in time to be with Harry.

Forty was what he got, and Draco stood up, already leaving before any more announcements were given. He had no desire to work his way through people once everyone departed.

He would rather be alone.

* * *

_Draco,_

_Your father is... going through a difficult time right now. You know this, Darling. There is only so much he can handle and he will seem different for a little while. Don't worry too much on him, he will be fine._

_Now, Darling, I'm glad to hear that you and Dobby are back on talking terms. Please don't think too harshly of him. You understand why he did it, even though it might hurt._

_I'm going to be sending you something in the mail to you. You are not to open it until after the summer. Do you understand? It is very important, but you must not see it until the right time. I wasn't going to let you hold onto it until the time actually came, but it needs to be somewhere remotely safe._

_I want you to keep it somewhere safe. What about in your room? You can keep it in there where no one can find it._

_No, I can't tell you what it is. At least, not at this point in time, but I will, eventually. I promise._

_Also, before I forget, you will be receiving a letter in the mail. Do not judge too quickly, please. Just hear what is to be said and remember all that I've told you._

_I love you, Darling,_

_Mum_

* * *

Tapping his foot, Draco sat in front of the fire. It was warm, the flames licking over each other. The crackling of the logs sent small bursts of light upwards. Embers smoldered on the bottom of the pile of logs.

There was no smoke, no harsh smell of burning wood, and not overbearingly hot. It matched with the warmness at his throat.

With a blink of his eyes, Draco was standing and heading towards the doorway.

"Where are you going?" Blaise's voice made Draco pause before he turned around. The Italian boy, who had not been visible was suddenly standing in front of the blonde. "You keep on disappearing off to somewhere."

"Keeping tabs on me, Zabini? Should I be flattered?" Draco's voice was low, his eyebrows drawn low.

"Where are you going?"

"Who are you to demand?" Malfoy's voice was layered with coldness and poison, sharp and to the point, harsh and potent. "Where I go is of no concern to you. What I do is none of your business."

Blaise narrowed his eyes before he inclined his head. "Very well, Malfoy." He turned away and headed back towards his room, but he stopped and added over his shoulder, "I warn you now. I _will_ find out what you are up to."

"Remember what I told you at the beginning of the year: you will know nothing unless I want you to."

Draco exited the dorms, a small smile escaping before he tapped his head and disillusioned himself.

The trip to the Come and Go Room was easy. No one entered his line of sight; no cat, no Filch, no wandering professors, no ghosts, no anyone. He was alone, and for that he was ever grateful.

His steps, for the first time in a long time, were slow and steady, not quick and mechanical, though still fluid. His hands still by his sides, not in his pockets, but he enjoyed the quiet.

When he finally stood in front of the Come and Go Room, Barnabas the Barmy spoke up, "Here again? You seem rather inclined to visit more this year." When he got no answer, the man in the portrait went back to teaching his trolls to dance. "I will find out who you are. You seem amusing."

Draco sent a confused look at the painting. After all, how could the man in the portrait know he was amusing if Draco hadn't talked before? Still shaking his head, Draco paced and entered the door that appeared.

Not surprised by the appearance of the room - the cold one with the hammock - he waved his wand at the _Draco / Dray_ side of the board where _slow_ and _hates heights_ appeared.

The cold room melted away to go back to the warm one. Exhausted, Draco made his way to the hammock and collapsed on it, pillows cushioning his every move. Rolling onto his back, his diary landed on his chest. Not really understanding, he flipped it open to reveal nothing new.

Nothing from his mother, which wasn't too surprising since he had yet to reply. His father wrote nothing. It had been days, _weeks_, since the last message from him and it irked Draco to no end.

So, when a quill appeared in his hand, he wrote a tiny letter to his father.

_Father,_

_You have yet to reply. All I want is a straight answer. Is there something going on? If so, why won't you tell me?_

_Is it so difficult to tell me? To trust me?_

_Draco_

Short and simple; annoyed and to the point.

Shutting the book, both quill and diary zoomed over to the table.

He tried to sleep. He really did. But it eluded him. Instead, his mind took him back three years, to his first Transfiguration lesson. Where McGonagall transformed into a cat, and then back into a human.

To be something untainted. To be something that no one expected anything from. To be something where he could be himself. To be something that was unconcerned with life around it. To be something whose only desire was to live and to be free.

As if reading his mind, a book plopped onto him. With a grin, Draco cracked it open and began to read.

* * *

After a quick nap, Draco made his way towards the kitchens. He had planned on just calling Dobby, but there was a chance the house-elf was sleeping. However, in the kitchen, there was always a few house-elves ready and willing to serve.

When he finally made it in front of the painting of a huge fruit bowl, he looked around for a certain fruit. It was filled with delicious looking foods, and it made his mouth water just thinking about biting into it. He reached a long, pale finger out and stroked the green pear, making it giggle. It turned into a matching door knob.

Being the ever cautious Slytherin that he was, he slowly turned the handle and listened for any sounds that weren't house-elves.

He was immediately grateful that he hadn't just walked in.

"... free to call him a - a barmy old codger if we likes, sir!" Dobby's voice had Draco pressing in closer to the door, ear pressed firmly against it. "But Dobby is not wanting to, Harry Potter. Dobby likes Professor Dumbledore very much, sir, and is proud to keep his secrets and our silence for him."

There was a pause, and Draco inched closer to the opening, hoping he could hear whoever was in there with Dobby.

"But you can say what you like about the Malfoys now?" Harry's words made Draco blood freeze, and he waited desperately for Dobby's reply.

"Dobby - Dobby could," his voice was low and high pitched. Draco's heart sped up, and panic seized him. His eyes were huge, and sweat began to fall down his cheek. "Dobby could tell Harry Potter that his old masters were - were - _bad Dark wizards_!" For a moment there was only silence and then Dobby began to squeal, "_Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"_

Having heard enough, Draco closed the door. The handle misted back into a pear. With unsteady feet, he headed towards the opposite wall, leaning his head against the cool wall. His body shook and his fists were balled tightly into fists.

"Not true," he whispered harshly. "Not true."

_Put up the mask. Put up the mask. Put me on_, a voice whispered. Draco's head snapped up, but he saw no one. The voice continued anyway, _Put me on, and you won't have to worry about... Dobby... again. You won't have to worry about keeping your family safe. Put me on. Come on, Draco, you know you need me._

_I don't need to be you_, Draco argued back.

Malfoy's cold, derisive laugh echoed in his mind. _Yes, you do. And it burns you. All this year, you've been trying to be someone you're not. You are me. There has been no one else but me. I'm the one who's been here from the beginning. I'm the one you depended on to get you through things. You are me. Now _put me on!

_But... I don't want to._

_It doesn't matter what you want, does it? You need me. We are the same._

Draco trembled, leaning against the wall again. His shoulders drooped, his eyes turned downcast. _I just want to be me._

_You will be. Just put me on, never take me off, and you will be you forever._

Even though he knew he shouldn't, Draco felt himself giving in. But before he could do anything, two pair of hands grabbed at him and yanked him away. He was pushed into a room, where he stumbled and worked to gain his balance.

There wasn't a chance to slip his mask back on, he was too tired. He was too shocked.

Two pair of liquid brown eyes were grinning at him. Both of the sets were attached to freckled faces with a large smile plastered on them. On top of said heads was pink hair.

Draco just blinked, not really comprehending.

"Aww, look, Georgie, we caught him unawares." One of the twins - Fred, if he was telling the truth and calling his brother the _correct_ name - reached forward and patted Draco on the head.

"Wha?" Draco began, but the other twin interrupted him.

"We want some answers."

"Why haven't..."

"... You told anyone..."

"... About the library... we'll..."

"... Call it an incident?"

The two talking like that gave Draco an immediate headache. Too tired to do anything else, Draco went to the closest desk and collapsed on it. He rubbed his head and refused to look up at the two. "Does it matter? Now leave."

"Nah, we want to figure you out." The two spoke at the same.

Irritated, and forgetting that he wasn't being 'Malfoy', he snapped out, "There is nothing to figure out. I just want to be left the hell alone. Is that too difficult to understand?"

The two cocked their heads, and the first twin - Fred - replied, "Look, the Malfoy git we met our second year was a prat."

"The Malfoy that jinxed our hair and been laying off the three golden kiddies, well, that Malfoy seems interesting."

Draco rose his eyes, "What?"

"You are difficult..."

"... To pin down..."

"... Yet, there's something..."

"... Different, about you..."

"... A Malfoy that..."

"... Seems to be worth getting to know."

Seriously confused, Draco just stared between the two, mouth slightly gaping. "You two are insane... I think you guys are drinking something poisonous to think I'm going to _allow_ you two near me. Let alone get to know me."

If it were possible, the twins grins grew. "We didn't expect you to. We'll do it anyway."

Draco got back to his feet and walked past the two confusing hellions. "I'm not someone you want to know." With that he left, and the two did nothing to stop him.

* * *

Later, around three in the morning, the twins jumped to the three who just entered their dormitory. "We need Harry," the two spoke as one, quickly, already dragging Harry away towards the fire.

Ron just shrugged, said a quiet, "Night" through a yawn, and went up to the spiraling stairs.

Hermione narrowed her eyes on the two Weasley's, "Don't do anything impractical tonight. Harry needs his rest, as I'm sure you two do, too." She sniffed when they just waved at her, motioning her towards her own room. "_Boys_. You're all idiots," but she spoke with a small smile, and her voice was filled with affection. "Go to bed soon." With that she went to her dorm.

When the other two were gone, Harry turned expectantly to the other two, "Well?"

"We need to borrow some things from you," the twins placed their arms around his shoulders. "What do you say, wanna give two blokes a hand?"

"Why do you need to borrow them?"

"That is official business, Harry my boy." George said with a laugh.

Harry let his eyes roam from one twin to the other before giving them a quick, tired smile. "Alright. What do you two need?"

* * *

A/N Ok, just as a reminder. This _is_ an **angst **story. I know no one's complained about it, but I feel the need to remind you guys. :D I didn't plan on having 'Malfoy' manifest this way. It just kinda happened, and it helps the story - I think - have more angst. I love writing angst - though I have to be in a certain mood to read it... hmm, hypocritical of me? Probably. :D :D :D

Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! Also, the chapters that I'm writing now are getting shorter, which is why I'm updating sooner. Hope you guys don't mind. :)


	13. There is Nothing but Lies

A/N Pretty much anything in italics - that's not a letter - is Malfoy or Draco speaking to... eh... himself? :) Also, the Yule Ball isn't that important, so it's not very long. Just warning you :D

* * *

_Draco,_

_This Christmas you will be staying at Hogwarts._

_You are correct in your assumption that there is something going on. However, I shall not tell you what that something is. The reason is simple: you will not be here. It has no concern for you. Pass your classes with excellent marks, and you will get into a prestigious school somewhere else. Yes, you will be under a different name._

_Cease your foolishness immediately. I have neither the time, nor patience, to argue with you about this matter._

_This is no longer up for discussion._

* * *

He hadn't even bothered to sign it. Draco glared at the paper. His fingers itched to take it out. To rip it. To shred it to pieces.

_That isn't what we do._

Right. Right. Draco reigned in his emotions and clenched his fists tightly. He would just bear with it quietly. He had to.

For his mother, at least.

_No, for yourself. You get so much more if you do things for yourself_.

Draco ignored the voice, focusing at the task at hand. After tying his shoes, the blonde walked over to the full length mirror, studying his reflection. His robes were wrinkle free, his hair - now free of that disgusting gel - hung loosely around his face, and his expression was carefully blank except for the trademark smirk.

With one last deep breath, Draco shook any hair out of his face and walked out of his room to wait in the common room with the other Slytherin's.

Blaise was standing beside the fireplace, the glow of the flames licking across his olive skin. The two oafs were standing side by side against the far wall with their arms crossed. Nott sat in a chair with Parkinson sitting on the floor for no apparent reason.

Everyone else were either milling about, talking in hushed tones, or sitting with each other.

As Draco walked towards the spare chair by the fire, Pansy lifted her head and spotted him in seconds. She didn't bother getting up, she just scooted over to the Draco's chair. When he sat, she immediately leaned against his leg.

"Parkinson, straighten your skirt unless it is your wish to give everyone a show," Blaise spoke quietly so only the three of them could hear.

Thankfully, so he didn't have to listen to them bickering, the common room door opened to admit their Head of House, Severus Snape. His cloak trailed after, his sneer tuned down to just a frown. He waited until the door slid closed before he began, "You will pay attention. I will say this once, and only once: As customary for the TriWizard tournament, there will be a Yule Ball."

He ignored Pansy's squeal of delight and continued, "It is only for fourth years and above, unless you... desire to bring someone younger. Dress robes must be worn. As you well know, any misconduct will be dealt with. You are Slytherin's, so behave like one." When he received nods, he added one more thing, "The other... houses will learn of this tomorrow."

With that, he turned abruptly with his cloak billowing out behind him and left the common room.

_You know what you must do_.

Draco frowned at the cold voice. He went back to ignoring it in favor for looking down at Pansy, but still, the voice followed him.

_You will do what I want. What is good for us._

Pansy pulled on his robes and Draco's eyes zoomed down to the girl with a narrowed gaze. "Parkinson, you would do well to release me."

Her fingers let go of his clothing, but she batted her eyes up to him, "Well, Drakie? Do you have any idea who you are taking to the dance with you?"

_Anyone but you_, Draco thought to himself. However, what came out of his mouth was, "You will find out in the morning."

She pouted, but nodded, "Alright then." She stood up, brushing off her clothes. She sent a glare toward Blaise, and flaunted out of the common and toward her shared dorms with Tracey Davis. She met Davis halfway there and hooked her arms through the blonde girl.

_Protect yourself._

Draco gracefully rose from his seat, giving Zabini a curt nod before entering his room again. He walked over to the bed and finally took off his robes.

_Always for yourself._

_No. It's for my family._

_To protect yourself, you must protect your family._

_It's not the same._

Draco growled and changed out of his regular slacks and shirt into his satin bed clothes. His dragonhide boots were by his bed. In seconds Draco was under his blankets, but his eyes wouldn't close. Malfoy's voice - _your voice_ - was back and wouldn't leave him alone.

_Why do you insist that we aren't the same? Just accept it._

Draco never replied, just grabbing his diary and reading the saved entries. Over and over again, trying to drown out the whispered words in his head.

Hours passed before he fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

The next morning Draco had to drag himself out of bed and into the showers before anyone else was up. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was in disarray. It took a lot of self-power not to just stand under the shower and let the warmth loll him back to sleep.

Instead, he was out, drying himself and using magic to get the bags to slip away. For a moment, he stared at the mirror, and for a second, he thought he saw a sneer. But then he turned away, forcing an expression into existence that hadn't been on his face in what felt like forever: a tiny smile.

As he went back to the common room, he saw that the fire had died out. The room was back to the cold, dreary area that it usually was with green lights bouncing around and the view of the dark lake on the wall.

A few minutes later, Zabini joined him. "You are acting strangely, Malfoy."

"You are being meddlesome." Draco straightened his already perfect clothing as Parkinson came rushing in.

"You always beat me," she pouted when she saw the boys. "No fair."

"Parkinson, you will be attending the Yule Ball with me." Draco turned and was already walking out of the common room when he heard the screech of excitement behind him.

_For yourself._

_No. For my family._

_Stop deluding yourself. Family is after yourself. Always._

Seconds after the door slid back into the wall, an arm was hooked through his and a body plastered against him. "Oh, Drakie, only if you call me Pansy."

"Only if you cease your useless name calling."

There was silence for a while before Pansy nodded excitedly, "Alright, Draco it is then." She beamed up at him while he lead the way to the Great Hall.

"Is all this talking necessary this early in the morning?"

"You were talking to Drak- Draco before I came in." She giggled when Draco's eyes slid over to her. "There's nothing to worry about. You haven't been acting weirdly at _all_. You are completely and utterly normal." She snuggled her head into his arm, apparently glued to Draco for the time being.

Once they exited the dungeons, both boys asked in unison, "Why did I come up?" There were floating icicles _everywhere_. On the marble staircase, on the ceiling, on the walls, even from a few of the armor suits - which sang some blasted song called "O Come, All Ye Faithful". However, it wasn't sung completely right and it made them all cringe when all the suits of armor decided to skip obvious lines so nothing seemed to match up except the title of the song.

Pansy burst out laughing when the armor stopped before attempting to grab onto Zabini, but he simply sidestepped past her with a frown. She tried to charge into the Great Hall so they didn't have to hear the singing again, but Draco refused to move more quickly than a brisk walk.

She sighed happily when she saw the Great Hall.

The twelve usual Christmas trees were up, but they were more fully decorated than they usually were. There were luminous holly berries, real golden owls that hooted at anything that passed, miniature singing armor suits that were much better charmed, little animals - maybe fairies - that danced along the limbs, and much more. Snow drifted from above them, the sky a light gray.

Draco removed himself from Pansy and, when Blaise made his way toward him, they moved over to the Slytherin table where the Durmstrang students were already sitting. As he and Blaise sat, they watched in amusement when the girl they left alone looked around before hurrying over to them. Thankfully, there were only a few Ravenclaws there to witness it, but they were too busy reading to take any notice.

Draco ignored her when she sat in front of him since he was between Blaise and Krum. Krum turned black eyes to the gray-blue ones beside him and asked, very quietly, "How does von ask somvone to go to a dance vith them?"

Draco blinked a few times, refusing to cock his head to the side. "Have you never asked someone to dance with you before?" Though Malfoy laughed loudly in his head, Draco continued after the dark haired boy shook his head, keeping his voice low, "It's quite simple. You go up to said person and ask them."

"But vhat if she has been ignoring me?"

"You want to ask someone who's been ignoring you? Why?" Genuinely confused, Draco crossed his legs under the table to stop himself from leaning on the table.

_Image is everything._

_Stop repeating my father!_ Though he knew talking to a voice in his head wasn't a very good thing, Draco couldn't help snapping at it.

"No one else is... ex-hill-er-ating as she is."

"Then you do the same thing. The worst she can do is say no."

Krum nodded before focusing on his food with intensity. Wanting to smile, Draco turned back to Blaise. As he started light conversation with him, he pushed Malfoy's voice to the back of his mind, blatantly ignoring him.

_You will give in_.

* * *

_Draco,_

_Darling, please go to the owlery and get Artemis. Remember what I mentioned in my last entry? Go now, as soon as you get this. Don't reply until afterwards, if you have the time._

_All my love,_

_Mum_

* * *

It was late, going on eleven. So he had on the disillusionment charm, slowly making his way up the Grand Staircase. He stopped every now and then when the stairs decided to move, keeping a firm grip on the rail.

_Keep moving. Keep your head up._

In all reality, at least for him, there was nothing to do that late. He wasn't going to get any sleep, so he saw no point in trying to pretend to while he had been staring up at the ceiling.

_You can sleep as soon as you accept we are the same._

Still, he kept going up the stairs. His feet felt like lead as he tried to climb higher and higher. When he took the last stair, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, relieved to have gotten there.

_Don't show relief._

Draco frowned at the voice, but pushed it away before he dwelled on it for too long. He started towards the Come and Go Room, still fuming about the fact that the damned cat and Filch were standing _right by_ the hidden staircase he usually took.

_All you had to do was put me on._

Draco walked past the passage to the Come and Go Room, instead walking down a separate, lone hallway. At the end, there were more stairs, but thankfully ones that stayed firmly still. So he started up the spiraling stairs, tapping his head to end the spell.

_Stay hidden, stay secret._

After all, no one in their right mind would want to go up to the owlery at this time. Anyone with brains would go to the Astronomy Tower, where no one would bother them, not even the cat and Squib.

_Squibs, mudbloods, bloodtraiters, filth._

Draco gave a tired sigh, but he made it to the top of the staircase while ignoring Malfoy droning on about blood status.

_The owlery is no place for a Malfoy._

Well, at least the tune changed. There were bird droppings everywhere, with skeletons of small mammals everywhere. Birds swooped in and out of the Owlery happily. Some of them munched on morsels. But there was one owl who stood perfectly still, a note on her leg.

_Disgusting creatures, regular owls._

"Artemis," he murmured, speaking to his mum's eagle owl high in the rafters. After a few seconds, he repeated his call, and watched the owl fluff her wings before hopping off her perch and floating down towards him.

_That is an owl worthy a Malfoy._

Wrapped around Artemis' leg was a parcel. It was tiny, and reminded him more of a small pouch than anything. Still, he took off the thing and pocketed it, giving the regal owl a treat before she flew back to her spot.

_Look at it. Look at what's in the bag._

Tired, and not wanting to deal with anything more, Draco moved towards the door. However, he froze when he saw the hellions coming up towards him. And their hair was back to their original shade.

_Not those two idiots._

Backing up quickly, Draco took out his wand to put the disillusionment spell back on, but the two raced inside.

_Put it on anyway_.

_Shut up,_ Draco argued back. Just to spite Malfoy, he stashed his wand back into his pocket. He felt odd standing in front of the two in slacks and a silk dress shirt instead of in his robes.

"Aha! We thought we saw you," one of them said as the other went to an owl.

_Ignore them and leave. Or put me on, and let me deal with them._

Draco opted for the third option: ignoring Malfoy. "What are you two doing? Stalking me?"

"If we were stalking you, you wouldn't know." The one who finally got an owl turned and grinned.

The twin who spoke first hurried past Draco and tied the letter to the ruffled bird, apparently not happy about being rudely handled.

Twin two released the owl and watched it leave through a window. When the two turned back to Draco, they found him still there, standing by the door fame. Twin one moved closer, "You aren't running away."

He raised an eyebrow, "I have a feeling you two would merely follow me."

Twin two grinned, "How right you are."

"Now, what are you doing up here?"

Draco cocked his head to the side, a smirk gracing his features. "That is privileged information."

The twins looked at each other before they nodded and spoke as one, "We'll tell you why we're here if you return the favor."

"Have I done anything to indicate that I care why you're here?"

"Why'd you change our hair pink?"

"The color that is now atop your head is atrocious."

Twin one walked closer, but leaned against the wall. "Well, we're curious..."

Twin two just stood in front of Draco, a few feet away, "... as to why you're here, so..."

"... what can we do that..."

"... will make you tell us..."

"... what you got?"

Draco rubbed his forehead, "Must you two talk like that? And can you refrain from jumping from one topic to another?"

"Yes," they both grinned at him before twin one joined his brother in front of Draco. "No."

"Very well. Seeing as you don't even know if I received anything, the point is moot." Draco brushed off his clothes. "I have no wish to see you after this. So if you will excuse me."

Even as he turned to go, two hands gripped either of his arms, holding him still. Twin Two shook his head, "You aren't escaping right now."

Draco's mouth tilted down, "Why is it so dire for you to know if I have received anything or not? Unhand me. Now!" His irritation was spiking, and he had to work to keep from grinding his teeth together.

"It's not," the two spoke, but Twin One took over.

"We just wanted an excuse to talk to you. Unravel you a bit more."

"That is just offensive. There is nothing to unravel."

Twin two was up. "You're a Slytherin. There's always something to unravel."

Draco incline his head, "It looks like you have some brains after all." He let a smirk begin to grow before he answered, "I might show you two under three conditions."

The two nodded, moving closer than Draco was comfortable with.

"The first is to take an Unbreakable Vow to never mention any time we've met or will meet, until I release you of the bond. You will not say anything with the purpose to let anyone know you've been around me, and you will not speak of anything I deem important. The second of which is for you to get rid of that hair color. Permanently. Thirdly, you will have to come up with a way so I know which twin is which."

"Oh no, we want more than that," Twin one shook his head. "You better up what's at stake for you. One lone little letter or package isn't worth an Unbreakable Vow."

"We want to get to know you, sure. We don't want to under the pressure of us dying." Twin two grinned. The two hadn't backed up or put any space between them and the blonde. If anything, they still crowded the fourteen year old boy.

Draco massaged his forehead. "Must I spell everything out for you?"

"Yes, please!"

"After I finish explaining this, I am gone."

"Sure sure."

"I am acknowledging that we will, unfortunately, be meeting again. I am giving up my alone time to spend time with you two hellions. I am giving up what's left of my sanity to deal with you. However, in taking the Unbreakable Vow, I am creating a fail safe."

The much needed cushion simply because the necklace had never heated up when they were close.

The two looked at each other, "We'll think on it."

Draco cocked his head to the side, his smirk manifesting once again, "You will learn nothing of consequence without that vow. You have until the end of the year to consider. And if you do decide to agree to my terms, you would look much better with auburn hair."

With that, Draco turned and walked away, quickly putting his Disillusionment Charm back into place. It wasn't until he was almost to the dungeons that Malfoy came back, still haunting him.

_Always protect yourself._

* * *

Draco refused to call it primping. He called it preparing himself. Two distinctly different things.

He was making sure his hair lay just so, that he didn't have any wrinkles on his clothes.

His dress robes were black and made of velvet, contrasting his alabaster skin nicely. It was soft and flowed with his movements. The only thing he didn't like was the high collar, and the deep, dark bags under his eyes.

Even with the help of magic, he could barely conceal that he hadn't been getting enough sleep. Malfoy's voice kept echoing in his mind. No matter what he did, nothing made the voice go away.

Well, there was one, but he refused to admit it.

Knowing he couldn't prolong the inevitable any longer, he checked on the unopened parcel his mother sent before stepping out of his room and into the common room. Even with all his preparations, he still beat Pansy.

Blaise, on the other hand, was standing beside the fire, waiting patiently for the mousey brown haired girl - Taylor Donturn - with the deep gray eyes who was a year their elder. The Italian boy gave Draco a nod before a squeal could be heard heading towards them.

Pansy, for her credit, walked into the room. She wore frilly, pale pink dress robes and a smile that seemed to be just as frilly and bright as what she wore. "Oh, Drak- Draco, aren't you excited about tonight?"

"Quite," Draco lied through his teeth, but he held out his arm for Pansy to take hold of and they were on their way. Crabbe and Goyle, apparently not wanting to deal with Nott, followed after the two.

They got to the top of the dungeon steps, and Draco nearly had to bite his tongue to keep his raucous laughter inside him. Ronald Weasley stood beside Harry Potter in the most hideous looking dressing robes in the existence of wizards.

Before he started laughing at the maroon _dress_, Draco lead the others inside, meeting Harry's glare with a smirk of his own. When they entered, Pansy stayed glued to his side, but dragged him with apparent ease around the area.

It wasn't too much longer before the judges were seated at the large, round table at the top of the Hall. Frost glittered along the walls, mistletoe and ivy crossed across the sky, and Draco made a point to memorize where each of the mistletoe were so he wasn't stuck underneath one with Parkinson.

The champions were led in, and Draco froze when his eyes landed on the girl on Krum's arm. She wore beautiful periwinkle-blue robes that seemed to flow around her, hair done up in an elegant knot that was sleek and shiny. The movement of her gait was smooth and graceful, and a nervous smile fluttered on and off the delicately painted face.

"Who _is_ that?" Pansy muttered, obviously wishing ill on the girl.

"Granger," Draco murmured, eyes still following her motions as the champion couples started to dance. However, his gaze didn't stay on her, though, nor did his attention lay solely on Parkinson.

His sight slid over the room, taking everything in. Blaise walking in with Taylor, Nott with Davis. That Longbottom fellow with the Weasley chit. The hellions standing beside a quidditch team member and Lee; one of the twins and dark skinned boy apparently not bringing a date. Ronald Weasley and his so called dress robes.

He had to look away before he burst out into laughter.

As soon as she was able, Pansy wheedled quite a few dances out of Draco. He spun her around the room, his movements fluid. He held her closely when there were slow songs. He passed her around when it was called for.

By the end of it all, his feet hurt and his body felt like crumpling to the ground.

_A Malfoy never faints. They hold their heads up high. Put me on, I'll get you through the night. You can sleep. You can sleep a full night's rest if you only put me on_.

Draco frowned and led Pansy off the floor and sat her down. When he escaped her line of sight, he went out of the Great Hall and towards the exit of the castle, wanting some fresh, cool air. But a single hand pressed down on his shoulder.

Focusing on paths and water, Draco stared up into the smiling, black eyes of Viktor Krum. "I just vanted to thank you vor heelping me with Herm-own-ninny. I haff asked her to visit over the summer. I am hoping she says yes."

Blue-gray eyes darted around, making sure they were alone before he allowed a small smile to surface. "Certainly, I'm pleased my advice had some use."

"I must get back in there, Herm-own-ninny is vaiting."

"Of course."

As the elder boy hurried back into the Great Hall, Draco left the castle. The sharp gust of wind against his skin made the boy sigh in relief. The pressing bodies, the shouts of excitement, the pulse of music had his body shuddering in distaste.

Nature, though, was calming, soothing. It set everything right again.

He took the long way and headed to the lake, enjoying the feeling of his shoes sinking into the snow. He enjoyed the shock of the slap of wind on his face. He enjoyed the singing of the birds and the whisper of leaves from the trees.

A blot in the sky dived towards him, and Draco held out an arm out of reflex. A tiny owl of no consequence landed on his arm, sticking out his leg that held a letter. With efficiency, Draco untied the knot holding it and placed the note in his pocket.

Draco ran a finger across the owl's head, "I'm sorry, fellow. Though you must be tired, I have no treat to give to you. If I see you again, I'll be sure to give you double."

The owl must have understood for he hooted and took off in the general direction of the Owlery.

With a look around, he saw Nott under a tree, hands held before his face and whispering into it. Curious, Draco walked towards him, coughing lightly to get the other boys attention.

With blinking eyes, Nott looked up, "Malfoy."

"Nott, what are you holding?" Crouching down, Draco caught a glimpse of a beetle in the boy's hands. "Must Blaise explain to you what disgusting creatures bugs are?"

"This is not only a bug," Not muttered, not letting his grasp loosen. "It's... Rita Skeeter."

"Ah, I see. What are you telling her?"

"Of Hagrid, we just overheard that he's a half-giant, so we came here so I can explain some other things about him. Want to say anything about him?"

Draco gave a quick nod, "only that I don't understand how a professor is allowed to teach while students in his care are getting harmed." Having said his piece, and his curiosity sated, Draco walked away and back into the castle.

Back to the game, and back to more lies.

_There is nothing but lies._

* * *

Eyes wide, Draco couldn't look away from the letter in his lap. No matter how he tried to look at the thing, the words wouldn't change. The meaning didn't change. Who it was sent from stayed the same.

Beside him, courtesy of Dobby, was his tin of cookies, long forgotten.

_Draco,_

_I know you haven't heard from me... ever. Cissa believes that we should talk._

_The only thing that I want from you is that you read this letter. Afterwards I don't really care._

_In case you can't guess, I'm Sirius._

_All you need to know is I'm in hiding even though I'm innocent. Cissa probably already told you that._

_Cissa is important, but I already don't like you. My godson believes you're a spoiled little rich boy. Cissa keeps telling me that you're some 'misunderstood child who has too much weight on his shoulders'._

_I hate Lucius Malfoy, just so you know. He's a prick, and there is the saying that goes: 'like father, like son'._

_But, Cissa wants me to try. I'm guessing she asked - or will ask - you, too._

_The midget owl will stay at the Owlery for a few weeks. If I don't get a letter back, you won't hear from me again._

_If you send a reply, I'll try to stop mentioning that I already don't like you and your father. _

_Sirius_

* * *

A/N Aaaaaand, there you go. :) Sirius is now in the picture. W00! Hope you guys are enjoying the story. :D


	14. Purebloods and Gillyweed

A/N some scenes taken from book and changed around, bla bla bla. I probably won't mention this again 'cause it's boring having to repeat myself. :D Guess what, there's a portion in here in someone else's point of view, YAY!

Also, some of these portions are small. Sorry about that. :)

Oh, before I forget, remember that the italics - that aren't used for letters - is most likely Malfoy/Draco talking to, or at, each other. And that I have made up some things about Unicorn horns. Silly Malfoy. That is all. :D

* * *

There was a bloody unicorn. A _Unicorn!_

Draco stared at the beautiful creature, standing further than anyone else from the animal. Even some of the boys were drifting towards it, but Professor Grubbly-Plank's voice had them backing up, but he couldn't comprehend what the professor said.

The blonde rolled his eyes at the Gryffindor boys who pouted and barely took a step back. Honestly, he couldn't believe that they had gotten to their fourth year without failing.

Catching himself about to nod off, Draco shook his head, hoping that since no one was beside or behind him, they didn't see him.

_Show them the clip._

The girls all walked forward as a large gaggle, oohing and ahing at the creature.

When liquid silver eyes of the creature glided over him, Draco felt like he was being judged.

_Malfoy's aren't judged. They do the judging. Give them the paper!_

"What d'you reckon's wrong with Hagrid? You don't think a skrewt -"

"Potter, really, by now I would have assumed you knew how to read." Grateful for a reason to look away from the blasted animal, Draco then turned to two of the golden trio.

His body swayed just a tiny bit, but he was positive that Harry noticed. The boy with the glasses narrowed his eyes, "What d'you mean?"

_So tired,_ Draco blinked a few times, the silence stretching on. But then he realized what the boy said, and pulled out the newspaper from his pocket. "I must learn to stop thinking you're capable of thought without that mudblood around."

_Put me on. Put me on. Put me on._

He watched without feeling when Ron sputtered at him. But Harry grabbed him by the collar and forced his head down to read the article with him.

_So tired._ It had been days, maybe weeks - Draco couldn't remember - since he had gotten a full nights sleep. He would be lucky if he got more than three hours. Malfoy's voice never let him be.

_Put me on. You won't be so tired. Just put me on._

_No._

_You won't be tired. I'll let you sleep. Just put me on._

_Maybe._

_Just for a little while. Just for five minutes. Just put me on._

_Only for five minutes_.

Draco let the mask slip completely on for the first time basically all year.

Malfoy watched the boy's read the article, a smirk on his face. His once slightly slouched posture was back to completely straight. His eyes didn't divert from the anger that rose from the five boys reading the pages - Potter, Weasley, Finnigan, Thomas, and Longbottom.

The most potent were the two boy figures of the golden trio. Weasley was trembling, Potter's hand wasn't completely steady.

Malfoy just drank it all in. He shot a feral grin at Zabini, whose eyes were boring into the blonde. Blue-gray eyes dared the Italian boy to speak up, to say whatever was on his mind. Yet the other boy only narrowed his eyes before focusing on the professor again.

Seeing that the five had yet to finish, Malfoy let his eyes drift over to the plank woman, who spoke of the details of how Unicorns were special.

The only use for Unicorns were their blood and horns. Especially their horns.

It was not spoken of in polite conversation, but Malfoy's were hardly ever in polite company. Unicorn horns were precious things, when taken forcefully. Sure, many wizards waited until a Unicorn died to take the horn to use it in potions and such. Or perhaps they found one by chance after it was shed.

However, it is the horn that is taken that is more useful. For a few hours after the Unicorn horn is forcefully removed, there are two outcomes. One of which is similar to Phoenix tears, where it has immense healing powers. The second is the opposite, the cause of a disastrous ailment that could last years and leave the wounded in extensive pain.

The downfall to using the horn for healing is akin to slaying a Unicorn and drinking it's blood. Using it to harm others will cause the wizard to go mad, creating different personalities inside the wizard.

"How did she find out?" Ron's whisper wasn't enough to shatter Malfoy's thoughts. His eyes were glazed over, seemingly watching the girls pet the Unicorn. They all seemed to ooze happiness, and they didn't seem to notice the shift in the animal's stance when a malicious leer crossed the blonde's face as he stared at the pure, innocent_, perfect_ beast.

No one else saw his expression except for Zabini and Potter. Yet Malfoy didn't care. Nothing they tried could harm him, and if they did, he knew how to catch a unicorn.

After all, he already had to deal with Draco. Draco, who was already giving in to him. It didn't matter if there were others who joined the weak, _pathetic_ little boy who had claim to his body first.

Draco would give in, and the body would be his.

"What d'you mean by 'Hagrid causes harm to the children in his care'? No one's been really hurt. Flobberworms can't bite, unlike what those two idiots claim. And we don't all hate Hagrid, like what Nott said!"

Malfoy turned his head to stare at the boys, his sneer in place, "Well, everyone's Mummies and Daddies aren't going to like having a crazed, half-giant teaching their children. They certainly didn't like a Werewolf, did they?"

"You -"

Potter wasn't able to finish his sentence; Plank interrupted him, "Are you paying attention over there?"

Even when she turned back to the girls, Potter turned back to keep arguing, but Malfoy beat him to it: "I have no more desire to speak to such plebeians such as yourselves. My amusement has faded." With that, Malfoy turned and walked away, seeing as the class had just ended by the sound of the bell.

As he was walking, Malfoy felt Draco fight his way upwards. Try as he might, Malfoy couldn't beat him away. Snarling at Draco, Malfoy faded away; the last thing he could hear was Draco's thought of, _that was more than five minutes._

* * *

Draco couldn't remember how long he was out. It must have been more than five minutes because he was heading back towards the school with the other Slytherin's with no memory of what happened after he let Malfoy have control.

He didn't feel any better. He was still exhausted, and it felt like he was about to collapse, but it was... nice not having to control everything and let someone else have the reins again.

But... it had been more than five minutes.

_You didn't want to put me away._

Yes... yes he did, but... no, he didn't. It was confusing. Putting Malfoy on had only served to make everything more twisted, more jagged. Nothing made sense.

So he wouldn't put the mask on again. Not until he understood everything.

_You'll need me again. You'll put me on again. You liked giving up control. You've always liked having someone tell you what to do. You're lost without someone leading you. What you're doing, planning on going against your father, is killing you. You aren't a hundred percent positive of what's going to happen because you're calling the shots. Put me on, we'll handle it together. We'll do as our father says. We'll protect ourselves, and our mum. We'll protect our family._

Draco's body couldn't help but shake, causing both Pansy and Blaise to stare at him. Even though Malfoy's voice was soft and weak, Draco could hear the truth in the words.

And it frightened him.

"Drak - Draco, what is it? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I just twisted my back incorrectly for a moment." Draco forced his words to be calm, neutral. "I want to be alone for a while. Leave me."

Pansy nodded once, moving quickly to lay a kiss on the blonde's cheek before leaving; Draco was too tired and lost to really care. Blaise gave him one last, calculating look before heading to the dungeons, or the direction of the dungeons.

Alone, Draco slowly made his way to the library, wishing for some peace and quiet. A time to think to himself.

What Malfoy said was true. He would be able to protect his mother if he only did as his father said. Never had Draco tried to do something by himself, without orders from anyone. He would fail.

But, if he didn't stay, who would be able to keep an eye on the Boy Wonder?

_He isn't your concern. Let him die and waste away. It has nothing to do with you._

Draco's resolve strengthened. It had everything to do with him. He owed the other boy, and Malfoy's repaid their debts one way or another.

He couldn't be sure, but he thought he heard a low growl from Malfoy. But it was too quiet to be sure, and he had never heard Malfoy make any noise that wasn't words, so he dismissed it.

No matter what, Draco swore to keep Malfoy at bay as long as he could.

He couldn't stop the shiver when Malfoy spoke next.

_You will give in._

* * *

Draco made his way to the back of the library, glaring at anyone who passed him. He went past giggling Hufflepuffs, studious Ravenclaws, and chattering Gryffindors. When he neared his regular table, he saw it was already in use.

Angrier than he should be, the blonde marched over to his table and slammed his hands down on the wood. Neville jumped back at the loud _thump_. His honey eyes locked on blue-gray ones and he froze.

"Well, Longbottom, what are you doing here?" Draco snarled, leaning over the book he was reading.

"I-I'm... I'm studying..." The poor boy was stuttering and Draco could hear Malfoy cackling in his mind.

"Really?" Draco let his gaze fall onto the book, looking at the page. "Really, Longbottom, surely a pure blooded wizard such as yourself would know that Gillyweed allows a person to breath underwater. What were you taught when you were younger? You're as common as mudblood's and muggles. You are a disgrace to your blood. Now move."

_Rightly stated_.

Draco snarled at the voice, accidentally letting it loose on the Gryffindor boy. "Move, now! Go bother someone else." Already locking the Gillyweed into his memory, Draco pulled his wand from its hiding spot in his robes on his arm.

Neville whimpered a little bit before quickly gathering his things and leaving. Draco watched as the boy scampered off, tripping a bit as he turned a corner.

Safely alone, Draco slid into his chair with an inaudible sigh. He waved his wand and cast a spell that would alert him when anyone got close to his vicinity. Afterwards, he slid his wand away, placing his head on the table.

Without much thought, he wrapped arms around himself, shielding any light from view.

He was so tired, and he couldn't stop his eyes from slipping closed.

_Malfoy's don't fall asleep in public. They keep their heads up and stay alert. Even a spell cannot keep all enemies away._

Draco groaned softly, digging his fingers into his scalp. _Leave me be. Let me sleep._

_Not in the library. What would your family say?_

_That you should leave me be so I wouldn't have been placed in this situation to begin with_.

_If you would just accept us as one, I wouldn't have to._

_We aren't the same!_

_Tut tut, such temper._

Draco didn't answer, just digging his fingers deeper, relishing the pain. It seemed to work, as Malfoy's voice didn't say anything more.

Yet Draco raised his head, his vision groggy. To keep himself busy, he pulled out his diary and looked inside. There was nothing new. His father and him refused to talk to each other, and his mother had yet to reply.

Unable to stop himself, he grabbed a quill and ink and began to write.

_Mum,_

_I know you are most likely busy, or you would have answered my last message already, however I felt the need to write._

_By chance, I came upon a Gryffindor - Neville Longbottom - reading a book on Herbology. The bloke is a pureblood whose only decent grade is in Herbology. You know how the second task has something to do with the lake, do you believe it could be possible to acquire Gillyweed for Harry?_

_I was thinking about using Dobby to get it to him, but do you think it would be too obvious? Most house-elves would not do something like this unless they were ordered to. After all, Dobby would be in considerable trouble if he was caught - I was thinking of having him go into Sev's office and get some._

_Or maybe there could be something else? I'm not sure. Transfiguration, maybe, but he has never been good at it. This way he'll be able to just consume something and be done with it. Unless he can't swim..._

_What fourteen/fifteen year old can't swim, though? I think I'm worrying over nothing._

_Love,_

_Draco_

Draco put his quill on the table, and stared at the note. His hand had shook so much that his letters were skewed and almost unintelligible. His wording was... disastrous and incompetent. Yet Draco couldn't find the energy to fix it.

Instead, he lowered his head one more time.

Even a five minute nap was better than nothing. Even if Malfoy's voice haunted him. Even if he wouldn't feel any better afterwards.

* * *

Harry stared, shocked, at the face of Professor Dumbledore. He blinked a few times before looking over at Ron and Hermione. "Professor... we weren't expecting you..."

Blue eyes twinkled at the three in amusement, "Yes, I surmised as much. Why don't you come in?"

Hagrid was a mess. The man's beard and hair was terribly tangled. His face was blotched with tears and as red as a tomato. His eyes were bloodshot, and a huge hankey seemed to be soaked through.

Fang barked in excitement, jumping on top of Harry and slathered wet kisses on the boy's cheeks.

When he was able to get Fang off him, Harry fixed his glasses and the three began the conversation of why they were there.

They argued with the large man, telling him that they wanted him back as a professor. That whatever that cow of a person Skeeter told was blatant lies and tangled truths to keep the audience captive.

That no matter what was said, the three of them enjoyed him as a professor.

Finally, Dumbledore jumped in and demanded that Hagrid attend breakfast the next morning and that he would not accept any excuses or his resignation. With that, the Headmaster was gone and Hagrid seemed to cheer up a bit.

Harry nearly groaned when the topic changed to him.

"Yeh know wha', Harry? When I firs' met you, you reminded me o' me a bit. Mum an' Dad gone, an' you was feelin' like yeh wouldn' fit in at Hogwarts, remember? Not sure yeh were really up to it... an' now look at yeh, Harry! School champion!"

Hagrid's grin, which had grown while he spoke, disappeared with his next words, which was stated seriously, "Yeh know what I'd love, Harry? I'd love yeh ter win, I really would. It'd show 'em all... yeh don' have ter be pureblood ter do it. Yeh don' have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It'd show 'em Dumbledore's the one who's got it right', lettin' anyone in as long as they can do magic. How you doin' with that egg, Harry?"

"Great, Hagrid. Just great." All that Harry wanted to do was survive. When the whole tournament began, he had no desire to enter. He was just fine with the thought of someone else having the spotlight.

He was tired of having to deal with everything. How was he supposed to know what to do? He was only fourteen, and he was supposed to compete with sixth/seventh years?

No, he didn't want to win. He just wanted to survive.

Yet, when he was lying in his bed about to go to sleep, he decided to take Diggory's suggestion and go to the prefect's bathroom and give the egg a bath.

Throwing the covers off him, Harry tiptoed out of the room with his golden egg and up the staircases to enter the fifth year's room. Looking around to make sure they were fast asleep, he went over to one of the twin's trunks and started to search around.

"Harry?" A muffled voice asked from the bed beside the one he was by. "Whatcha doin' here?"

"I need my cloak and map tonight."

"Mmm, my trunk." The twin sat up. "Hold on a sec." Getting out of bed, he searched his trunk and quickly pulled the much needed stuff out, but the quiet, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," had him curious. Silence stretched on before the twin leapt off his bed, pressing the map into Harry's chest before jumping on top his twin. "George! I've figured it out! Let's go, let's go, let's go! Get up before it's too late! Bye Harry! George! Wake up you lazy bum! Get up! I know who it is!"

Utterly confused, Harry quietly left the twins to their devices. He went through the common, exited the Fat Lady's portrait - ignoring her when she squawked in anger when she saw no one - and headed for the prefect's bathroom.

He made it to the fifth floor without any trouble, and was about to enter when he thought he had better check the map before he opened the door.

Freezing at the name he read, the map slipped from his numb fingers and floated to the ground, somehow leaving the protectiveness of the cloak.

It lay there for a second, Harry holding his breath. After a minute or so, he hoped that the person was gone, but then the map moved upward with nothing holding onto it.

Quaking with anger, Harry drew his wand. "Malfoy, drop the map. Now, before I hex you senseless!"

Instead of what he expected - Malfoy dropping the map in shock - the map didn't seem to move, at all. As if Malfoy wasn't shocked he was there. But how could the prat even know he was there?

Instead, after a few seconds, the map was held towards him, Malfoy not replying.

Suspicious, Harry cautiously moved forward and snatched the Marauder's Map back. He stared down at the map, and sighed when he saw the dot labeled _Draco Malfoy_ moving away.

Deciding to put the encounter out of his mind, Harry entered the bathroom with the hope of figuring out the secrets of the golden egg.

* * *

The twins, both under disillusionment charms, hurried to the hallway that led them to confusion and tests. They waited, paced, and nibbled on fingers, desperately trying not to talk. They didn't know how long they waited.

But finally, _finally_ a door appeared, and without thought, they streaked inside, brushing against something - or _someone_ - as they entered. But the person didn't seem to mind, and the door slid shut.

"Shut up." Malfoy's words were so quiet they could barely hear him. The twins were huddled in the same corner, they pressed their hands to their mouths to keep from making any sounds. They each had their heads cocked to the side, wondering why Malfoy would talk to apparently nothing.

"Shut up." The blonde appeared before them, leaning against the wall, his wand dropping from a limp hand. But then his fingers flew to clutch his head, tugging at his hair. The blonde was pacing, eyes wide. Long, pale fingers combed through his blonde locks over and over again.

"Shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!" Malfoy's body just snapped into something else. Lean limbs became choppy in movement. His nails scraping at his face. Gray eyes wild and crazy.

Magic crackled around him; a frenzy of blazing blue flames. They peeled away, cracking at anything within range.

Pictures fell, images tearing and glass shattering. The hammock tearing itself to pieces. The ocean becoming a raging storm. The fireplace roaring to life, flames going mad. The board with the words cracked. The _Draco / Dray_ side becoming completely shattered.

The twins clutched at each other, mouths open in shock as Malfoy rampaged about, screaming at something to _SHUT UP_!

"_NO! _I am NOT like you! I am nothing like you! Leave me alone!"

The boy grew silent, but his movements grew more frenzied. He was spinning in circles, the room grew cold. Before they realized what was happening, the room they had been in moments before had changed.

It was cold where they crouched, the carpet becoming a type of wood that drew in warmth. All that was in the room was the fissured board and a floating candle above them that was almost out of wax. It was freezing, and the two clung even tighter to each other.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" Malfoy crumpled to the ground, bringing his knees to his chest. "I don't want to be you!"

The frail boy buried his head, fingers ashen and knuckles tight. His whole body shook, his head shaking back and forth.

Finally, after a long silence, Malfoy banged his head against the wall hard enough for a loud _crack_ to be heard. "Dobby!"

Both set of brown eyes widened. They stared at each other when they heard another _crack!_ and the house-elf appeared. "Master Draco is call- Master Draco!" The tiny elf with huge bat ears raced forwards. "Master Draco, what's wrongs, sir? What is it? What can Dobby do?"

"Make it stop, Dobby!" The boy raised his blonde head, eyes low and tired. "Make him stop!"

"Makes who stop, Master Draco?" The house-elf, though smaller than the young Malfoy, wrapped arms around Malfoy's torso. The moment the boy was held, his magic sucked right back into him. Eyes narrowed in anger, the elf was glaring everywhere at once before his sight landed on the twins. "I will hurt anyone who dares hurt on my Master Draco." The elf rose two long, wax fingers about to snap, making the twins shake against one another.

A low, derisive laugh rose up. Dobby's eyes were wide as they landed on the boy, and the twins just watched with relief when the elf looked away. "You can't hurt him. No one can." Malfoy seemed to shrink inside himself. "He won't be silent. No matter what I do, he's there! Make him go away, Dobby! Make Malfoy go away!"

Fred blinked stupidly up at Malfoy. George watched with his mouth wide open.

"No," the elf moaned, clutching his young charge. "No, this can't happen. Not again." Dobby sent a glare at the twins before focusing on the blonde. He ran his fingers through the hair before the elf jerked it away when the boy flinched. His fingers were coated in blood. "Master Draco!"

But the Malfoy heir wasn't listening, he was still muttering. "The only time Malfoy was quiet was with those two hellions. The time in the owlery and the time in front of the kitchens." Blue-gray eyes misted over. "Do you really think I'm evil?"

Then he clutched his head again, burying it with stifled mutters of, "shut up, shut up, shut up."

"Hellions?"

"... up, shut up, the good for nothing twins who can't keep their noses out of anybody's business, shut up, shut up, shut up."

The twins seemed to freeze before rushing into action. They tapped each other on the head, the spells on them being cast off. The two stood up. Even though they were utterly confused, Fred had his hands on his hips, and George linked his hands behind his back, both wearing cocky grins.

Both spoke, "Looks like the fox is finally revealed."

Malfoy's head snapped up, mouth gaping open like a fish. "What the hell?"

"You called..."

"... And we came." George walked forward, but when Dobby pointed one finger at him, he froze.

"You is getting nowhere near Master Draco!"

Fred held his hands up, palms showing. "Look, Dobby, you know us."

"We mean him no harm."

Malfoy just groaned, the bags under his eyes more noticeable now that the two were closer. "Go away."

"Nope," the twins flopped to the ground in front of the younger boy, but far enough to keep the furious house-elf at bay. "We just wanna figure some stuff out."

"I'm not in the mood to deal with your nonsense."

"Rubbish!" Though still very much confused, the twins tried to relax as much as possible. Fred continued first, "You mentioned us, so we must be important somehow."

"So, it seems to us, that you need us. We have taken a... liking to you anyway."

Malfoy's eyes narrowed at the light tone. "I am certainly not queer."

The twins just waved that away. "Just 'cause we like you doesn't mean we want you. We like Harry and Hermione but not in that way."

The fifteen year old just groaned, lowering his head once again "Dobby."

"Yes, Master Draco?"

"I have a headache," the boy glanced out from his hiding spot in his arms, his face red.

The twins, seemingly forgetting about the ordeal that happened, wanted to coo at the boy. But the glare the elf sent them kept them from saying anything. "I will get you cookies and a potion." With a final look at the red-heads, Dobby left with another _crack_.

"Why are you here?" Malfoy staggered to his feet, leaning against the wall for support.

The two itched to jump up, but stayed seated. Fred with his legs stretched out with his arms behind him for balance. George with his legs crossed and his arms in his lap.

"Well," George began, "You said you wouldn't allow us to get to know you..."

"... And we warned you that we'd do it anyway..."

"... This is how we're going about doing it." The two grinned, watching as Malfoy rubbed his head.

"That's why I gave you parameters. Gryffindors are supposed to acknowledge them and follow them." Malfoy's eyes darted around until they landed on a hammock. The redheads gawked at the thing, wondering when it got there. "You two look like idiots with your mouths open."

The two snapped their mouths closed and stared at the smirking boy. But then he stumbled over to the net and collapsed on it, a leg and an arm dangling over the edge. A moment later, a book appeared under his fingers.

Malfoy looked over at the two with narrowed eyes when Fred spoke, "You know what, we're..."

"... Going to call you..."

… Blondie from now on."

"The hell?" Draco picked up the book, placed it in front of his nose, and began to read.

"Hey Blondie...

"... Whatcha reading?"

Malfoy continued to flick the pages, ignoring the twins, when Dobby reappeared. The elf gave everything to the boy, whose head kept jerking from the attempt at staying awake. Malfoy grabbed the cookie and ate it quickly and efficiently, washing it down with the potion Dobby handed him next.

The twins watched in amazement. Seconds later, the book slipped from his fingers - landing in front of him - and his head fell on top of it. Before his eyes closed, he muttered, quietly, "Dobby. Gillyweed. Harry Potter." Soon after, though, sleep seemed to consume him as tiny snores left his slightly parted mouth.

Dobby pointed to the door, and the twins took the cue to leave. Fred and George tapped each other with their wands and were once again under the disillusionment charms. Before they left, they checked the title of the book: _How to Become an Animagus._

Even as the door closed behind them, they wondered why the blonde mentioned Harry's name.

* * *

Sooooo, there you go. The newest update. :) I just finished chapter 18 and fifth year summer is around the corner!


	15. Flying High

A/N Sorry about not updating in a while, but ch. 19 was super difficult for me to write. But I finished it. W00! Even though it is really short. o.O

So here you go :)

* * *

_As my mother has told me you are a dog, I shall call you mutt. No, there is no changing my mind. It is something you must become accustomed to if we are to continue our... messages._

_Now, since you have made yourself perfectly clear, I will be blunt. I have absolutely no desire to speak to you. However, my mother deems you are an... interesting person to know. How, I have no fathomable idea. You, according to my contacts, were a reckless child whose only purpose in life while at school was to torment anyone you came across._

_I do not see what good my mother sees in you._

_How you feel about me, I have no concern over. If you choose to believe your godson - who I assume is Harry Potter if I heard my mother correctly - who has only seen me at school, over my mother who has known me since I first drew breath, then that is your problem and not mine._

_Also, that... bird that you are using is a disgrace to owls._

_Draco_

* * *

He didn't mean to sleep so much. He didn't mean to just exist in the blackness of sleep. But even as his eyes drifted open, and he wasn't slammed with exhaustion, he couldn't find fault. His lids didn't feel like they weighed a ton. His feet didn't feel like lead when he swung his legs over the hammock. His arms didn't feel numb when he stretched them high over his head to get his back to pop.

The note he had written to Sirius lay in his pocket, folded neatly and precisely. Yet he couldn't make himself move at a quicker pace. He just wanted to enjoy what he felt like for a few moments.

A _crack!_ filled the air and Dobby was there in front of him, something green and slimy in one of his hands. "Master Draco! You is looking better!" The house-elf placed some finger food that lay on a plate on the table as he talked.

Draco gave a small smile down at the house-elf, "For the moment. What is that, Dobby?"

"This is what Master Draco said to get, sir! Gillyweed for Harry Potter, sir!"

"So I was able to tell you that. Good. What time is it, Dobby?" Draco stood up, getting his wand out and straightened his clothing. After a moments thought, he gave his wand another flick and cleaned it off as well.

"Nine, sir. You has thirty minutes until the first task begins."

"Dobby, you haven't given Harry that yet?"

The house-elf shook his head roughly. "No, sir. He is at the library. Dobby is about to go wakes him."

Draco nodded, but before he does, he pulls out the letter to Sirius. "Dobby, do you know which bird gave me the letter from Black?" When the house-elf nodded his head excitedly, the blonde continued, "When you have a free moment today, will you give this to that bird and tell the creature to take it back to it's mangy owner?"

"Dobby will do as Master Draco says. What is Dobby supposed to tell Harry Potter, sir?" Dobby tugged at his ear before accepting the letter from Draco.

"Just tell him you overheard it between two Professors. It's the simplest way."

Dobby gave another nod, "Dobby will be going now, Master Draco! Hurrys so as not be late!" Another _crack!_ sounded and Dobby was gone, leaving Draco alone again to his thoughts.

_Malfoys are not late_.

Frowning at the voice, Draco resumed ignoring it and left the Come and Go Room under his disillusionment spell that was also on the plate of food in his hands. He made his way slowly towards the secret corridor. There were some late Gryffindor's racing towards the moving stairs. As he waited for the errant children to get out of his way, he ate some of the food Dobby had given him.

Finally working his way down the spiraling staircase, Draco quickly finished what was on the plate. When he peeked his head past the open bookshelves, he sighed in relief when no one was in the room. So he stopped the charm on the plate and placed it on one of the tables for a house-elf to pick up.

His mind went to Hermione's ambition to see that house-elves got paid. It nearly made him snort. Now that he wasn't tired out of his mind, he could accept the hilarity of the matter instead of pretending to. The girl just didn't understand the way that purebloods and house-elves worked.

It was too bad that he couldn't prove it to be different.

He exited the room and headed to the ground level, soon leaving the school and heading to the lake. It wasn't long that he saw Harry racing past him muttering "shit" over and over again. The boy's arms were pumping by his sides as his legs seemed to eat the distance between him and the lake. Draco tilted his head to the side as he watched the boy run.

_Malfoy's do _not_ stare at boys._

Just to taunt the voice, he imagined Harry naked and nearly choked at the image. He felt laughter ripple upwards when he could hear Malfoy curse in his mind about foul images. Seconds later, the image of Pansy Parkinson starkers was at the forefront of his mind and he, for a moment, became nauseous.

Both came to the silent agreement not to mention that again. Ever.

_Parkinson is probably not the best female specimen to look at._

It was one of the very few things that Draco could agree with. Shuddering one last time, Draco cast a look around and, when he saw no one, tapped his head and became visible. His pace quickened so he would get to the stadium in time to see the start of the task.

He got to the stadiums around the lake, used his wand to find Blaise and Pansy, and made his way over to them who sat in front of some Gryffindors. Not really paying attention, he seated himself between the two, waving off the questions with the answer of, "I was busy. Don't ask such useless questions."

Pansy was satisfied, unlike Blaise, but both focused on the lake.

Following their lead, he listened as Pansy murmured in his ear, "You just missed it, Draco! Potter came up at the last second. We all thought he was going to bail. Too bad he made it just in time.

"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One... two... _three!_" Bagman's voice echoed around even as a shrill whistle screeched.

Harry took off his shoes and socks, apparently not worried about the time limit. He then moved into the water until he was waist-deep, but then stopped. After a few seconds, there were many who pointed and laughed, but then he dove forward under the water.

As he disappeared under the waves, a large screen-like thing appeared above the water. It was cut into quarters. Krum on the top left with Delecour under him. Diggory on the top right with Harry under him. All of them were moving around through the water. One with a shark's head, two with a bubble of air around them to breath, while the fourth - Harry - had gills and webbed fingers and toes that helped him to glide quickly through the water.

A letter suddenly appeared in Draco's lap. All that was written on it was:

_You know where to meet_

Standing up, Draco dusted off his robes of non-existent dust. "I must be off. I am needed elsewhere. If you will excuse me."

Turning to leave, the blonde saw two auburn haired boys staring down at him, wide grins on their faces.

"Great idea for Harry to use Gillyweed, huh, George?"

"Absolutely. Wonder where he got the idea?"

The two were looking at each other while they spoke, but then they faced Draco and spoke as one. "Surprised, eh, Malfoy, that he managed to get this far?"

Lee chuckled from his spot beside him. Draco inclined his head when Pansy huffed in annoyance. "I don't believe for a moment that he figured it out on his own. I'm sure someone handed the answer to him, like always." He made to continue, but then added, as if in afterthought, "Your hair isn't as disgusting this morning."

"Nah," one twin answered, the other picking up.

"We like it. We're thinking of keeping it this color. Permanently."

"What do ya think of it?"

When Draco didn't answer, just raised an eyebrow, Blaise interrupted. "It isn't as atrocious as before. It seems as if you two have a slim chance of possessing brain cells. An impressive feat."

Pansy giggled as she nodded.

Annoyed at the sound, Draco simply turned and left.

_They will ruin everything._

Perhaps they would. Perhaps not. That was the whole purpose of the Unbreakable Vow. Since they changed their hair color, perhaps that meant they would keep their words for the other two conditions.

_Two of which they could lie about_.

Draco left the stadium, the note firmly in his pocket. It was true. They could lie about keeping their hair that color. The other was a way to tell them apart. He didn't say that those two would be included in the vow, and he had no desire to make them so.

Maybe it was to see how trustworthy they were. Maybe it was because he wanted to be different from Malfoy. Adding it to the vow was something he would do, but not what _he_ would do.

_Precautions._

Unnecessary ones, since the two conditions weren't life threatening. If the twins decided to lie to him, then he would simply react in a similar way. After all, though the two were identical, it did not mean that the two were the same in actions or in how they said things.

Sooner or later, Draco would be able to tell the two apart. He had no doubts. And if the two lied to him, he wouldn't give them anymore information than he already had, which wasn't going to be much.

By the time he came to those conclusions, Draco was standing in front of Severus' office. Once again he let himself in, and found himself under attack immediately. Barriers that were already up were blatantly attacked.

Memories that were in trees and bushes and grass and twigs were ripped through ruthlessly. Then he got to the water and he skimmed the surface, finding something to rip apart.

After a while, Severus pulled out and nodded while he finally erected barriers around the room. "Better. Since we have not had much time for practice because of Alastor Moody, we have a lot of ground to cover. We'll begin with the fact that you have improved your 'landscape'. Second is, while that is true, you need to be entwining some memories inside your lake that can be plucked out so that it doesn't suddenly go blank. The Dark Lord will know immediately you are hiding something from him if that happens."

Withholding a groan, Draco nodded and accepted the potion that his godfather handed to him. After a quick sniff, the blonde downed it before giving the empty vial back to the greasy haired man.

"This is more detailed than when it was first explained to me."

Severus nodded, sitting in a chair and pointed to another one. "You would not have understood at the time. Now, we are going to do something a bit different. I am going to show you how to move memories around in order to make it seem like you haven't moved them yourself."

The fourteen year old nodded. "What am I needed to do?"

"Enter your landscape. After a few minutes, I will enter and join you. Then together, we will work with your memories."

Without any urging from the older man, Draco closed his eyes and began entering his landscape. It took a few times, but he finally managed to do it. He was standing under a large oak nearest the lake when Severus appeared before him.

"Now what, Sev?"

"Now we enter the water."

"Severus, we're going to enter the water?"

The potions master raised a single, mocking eyebrow at his godson. "This is in your mind. You will neither drown nor get wet."

He watched as Severus entered the water, scrunching up his nose in distaste. It didn't really matter if he couldn't drown or get wet. It was just the weirdness of it all. Even with the use of magic, you would still get wet if hit with water unless some spell was in use. He was in his mind, but still a spell hadn't been uttered.

Taking a deep breath, Draco followed after his godfather into the darkness, hoping that Severus wouldn't try to look at anything hidden there.

* * *

When they came back up, Draco was soaked in sweat and his head pounded, but at least he had the basic idea of how to organize everything.

_About time._

Grinding his teeth together, Draco focused on the man before him.

"What is it this time?"

"Really, Sev, how did you know I have a question?"

"I know you. I know your face. Now ask voice your question or leave."

Frowning, Draco wasn't sure exactly how to word his thoughts, but finally just threw it out. "Father is acting differently. Even when we speak without the chance of being caught, he isn't the same. He won't explain anything and keeps many things shrouded from me."

"Where is your question?"

"Why is he being like this?"

Severus sighed, looking away from Draco. The silence stretched, causing Draco's muscles to tighten. Still, he kept still even though his body almost jumped up to pace. "You must be very careful with your father from now on, Draco."

The statement caught the boy off guard. He tilted his head to the side, eyes furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"When he was young, he was forced into something he had no desire to be in. You know this. You also know that he used his Malfoy facade to survive, as well as his ability as a superior Legilimens, which has, fortunately, passed onto you. However, his Malfoy mask became... sentient if you will." Draco's blood ran cold, his whole being seeming to freeze. "Lucius doesn't care about one side or the other, or he didn't when he created his Malfoy mask at a very young age. He has no desire for blood or death. He created his Malfoy who wanted all of those and more so that he would survive as a Death Eater. Even when Dumbledore came to him, Lucius only accepted and became a spy for the simple fact of Narcissa."

"So his mask... controlled basically everything?"

"In a matter of speaking, yes. Until he married Narcissa and became pregnant with you. That's when, he told me, that he came back up fully instead of letting his 'Malfoy' have free reign. That's when he agreed with Dumbledore because he didn't wish for something like that to happen to you. He hoped that since you had a purpose to fight for the light, you would have more power of your Malfoy mask than he did, and does. Now that the Dark Lord is coming back, it is very possible that the Malfoy mask has once again taken over to keep himself, and you, alive.

"So, Draco, you must be very cautious when you speak to your father. You have no way of knowing whether his Malfoy mask will take that information and give it to the Dark Lord."

"What about Mum, does she know of the mask?"

"Yes, however she hopes that Lucius will keep control. It seems as if she will be wrong."

Draco nodded, "Thanks, Sev." Without waiting for a response, Draco left the office. And since the barriers had fallen, Severus couldn't call out to his godson.

* * *

_Mum,_

_I sent a reply back to Black. I do have to say that I am surprised that you didn't warn me it was him. You know how I feel about him, though I suppose that was why you _didn't_ tell me._

_However, I feel the need to tell you that we already dislike each other. I am positive that if we continue to converse, that mutual feeling is not going to disperse. If anything, it will grow worse. If you wish us to continue, we will because it seems - even with his faults - that he cares for you. And yes, I can tell some of his major faults from the single letter he has sent me._

_Also, Sev told me about father's mask becoming sentient. Why didn't you tell me about that before?_

_Draco_

* * *

It had been a few days since Draco had went to Severus before the second task had finished. Dobby had come to the Come and Go Room where Draco had hidden himself to tell him what had happened, and where the champions stood.

Yet, for those few days, Draco couldn't bring himself to care. He immersed himself in the readings of animaguses. The books were fascinating, and Draco was glad that the room didn't make him write anything on the _Draco / Dray _side of the board to be turned into the warm room. The board wasn't even there.

But finally Draco let himself crawl out of his funk and focus on what was happening around him.

He was sitting in potions class when a newspaper was pushed in front of him It was another article written by Rita Skeeter about Harry. Moving the paper under the desk, Draco had to keep his snort of amusement to himself when he read the title: **Harry Potter's Secret Heartache**.

He raised his eyes from the photograph of Harry to look at his potion, making sure it was brewing correctly before hurriedly reading the rest of the article. He didn't even bother to hide his quiet laughter.

The golden trio sent glares over, but he merely sent the paper over to them. Severus, as usual, seemingly had his back turned while the Slytherin's did something. Pansy giggled as Blaise shook his head.

"I thought you were getting better, Malfoy."

Draco sent a smirk over to Blaise, "No one's perfect, Zabini. Not even you."

The Italian sniffed in disbelief before focusing on his potion, stirring precisely three times. Pansy gently patted Draco on his knee and tilted her head over to the three Gryffindors.

Checking his potion once more, Draco tossed another ingredient into his Wit-Sharpening potion.

A small chuckle sounded across the room. Looking over at the girl, he found Hermione holding a hand to her mouth to keep from bursting out laughing at the article.

Perhaps there was hope for her.

_Never for a Mudblood._

* * *

Draco waited until night hit. Once again Malfoy wouldn't be silenced, so he was left staring up at his ceiling. Since his body wouldn't cooperate and sleep, he had grabbed his Nimbus 2001 and left the common room under his disillusionment charm.

As he walked on the pitch, his mind was full of thoughts of his father, of the Malfoy mask - both of them - and of Hermione and what was happening to her.

Draco got onto his broom and zoomed upwards. For a moment, everything was left behind. There was only the rush of the wind, the feeling of coldness slapping at his check, and his robes billowing out behind him.

But there was only so high he could go. So when he had to stop, everything came rushing back. The months had passed agonizingly fast. It was already almost June and the third task was coming. Nothing happened during that time. His father didn't reply to any of his messages, and he had yet to receive anything from Black - which wasn't all that surprising seeing as he had been warned by his mother it might take awhile for replies. But there was a lot of things running through his mind.

So he raced around the pitch, trying to organize it all.

He started first with Hermione, she was the simplest. All that really bothered him about her was that she hadn't responded to the article as he thought she would have. Instead of growing huffy at it, she had laughed it off before she had tossed it into an empty chair.

Many of his classmates were angry over that fact, but if she had reacted in any other way, Draco would have been bored. Instead of ignoring the Slytherins, she had acknowledged them. She was an enigma. Much like the twins.

He shook his head as he did barrel rolls. He wasn't going to think of the twins. They didn't deserve any other thought. No. He was done with them at that moment. He was focusing on the bushy haired girl.

Diving towards the ground, Draco pushed said girl to the front of his mind, but there wasn't much more except for the hate letters she had been receiving.

But even then, it wasn't as entertaining as the class had been.

Sighing, Draco leveled out. Well, after Hermione, there weren't any more amusing thoughts to sort through.

The rest was his father and himself. Neither holding a single smudge of amusement or happiness. All that was there was darkness and manipulation.

_That is what makes a Malfoy._

Refusing to focus on the mask aspect for just another moment, Draco swooped in and out of the hoops. So the next thought he would try to untangle would be his father, but he had no idea of where to start.

His father who was full of contradictions. He said not to listen to anyone, not to follow anyone's orders. However, he trained his son to do anything to protect his family, to do as he said without thought or question. He raised Draco so that his son knew that he loved him, yet he acted as if he didn't and that he was willing to throw that away to protect him.

As Draco corkscrewed upwards a scowl was plastered in place. Faster, he zoomed everywhere. Even as his mind tried to formulate understanding, maps, and order to his thoughts, his body was trying to race away so he didn't have to. His body knew he didn't want to do what he did, but he knew that it was inevitable.

He supposed that everything came back to the mask. Everything was tainted by it. He couldn't understand his father without understanding his mask. He wouldn't be able to understand himself without understanding his mask.

_Finally you get it._

They were one, it was just another part of himself that was usually hidden from view, someone he wasn't supposed to be.

_If I wasn't supposed to be, I wouldn't be in existence_.

That wasn't true. The only reason why the mask existed was because there was a need for it.

Draco flew high again, and, for a split second, thought about what would happen if he just let go and fell.

He wouldn't have the confusion he had. He wouldn't have Malfoy shadowing his every move. He wouldn't believe that he was slowly becoming his father. He wouldn't believe that his mask would have control.

Draco shot down, stopping himself only in time to hop off, broom in hand. He threw it down, watching it bounce a few times before it fell still.

_We are the same. I will help you be in control._

Draco knew he was like his father in many ways. Knew that he would do whatever it takes to protect his family. Knew that he had created a mask for himself.

_You are like your father. You need me._

Draco, calm and undeterred, walked to one of the three large posts. He was like his father, without a doubt.

_You need me._

But he wasn't his father. His fist shot out and slammed into the post with a resounding _crack!_

The flying had made his body numb. The cool February air chilled everything. Yet the shock of the hit sent tremors from his fingers, up his arm, and into his shoulder.

For a moment, he felt nothing. Then the pain lanced through him.

He crouched down in the bitter cold grass, letting the wet soak through his robes. "Damn it," he muttered. "Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!" He cradled his broken fist to his chest. Blood oozed from his knuckles, and his fingers were bent slightly out of place.

But his mind was clear even when his arm was full of pain. Malfoy's voice was gone, and he was left alone.

Tears of frustration finally spilled over, and Draco kneeled on the ground. His blonde head was bowed as his warm tears dripped to the ground.

But it didn't take long for him to compose himself and look back up.

He wasn't like his father. He would never be his father.

He wouldn't let Malfoy have control.

Standing up, still keeping his wounded arm close to him, Draco went to his broom and picked it up with his uninjured hand. As he headed back to the dungeons, Draco hoped for sleep.


	16. Are you Satisfied?

A/N Now, mostly, we will be diving into unknown territories. Technically, I should have mentioned that last chapter, but oh well. :) Enjoy. Ooooh, and just so you guys know, I can't wait for you guys to read next chapter. :D That one was soooo much fun to write (seeing as I wrote that before I even wrote this chapter... LOL). Some of the characters in here I've taken from the movies.

So, that being said... Hopefully I can start doing some cliffhangers. W00! And the chapters won't be nearly as long... most likely because I'm getting to the actiony parts. I think they'll be short... we'll see...

* * *

_Brat,_

_Good. We're on the same page. And my godson is right. You are a spoiled little rich boy. There's plenty good in me, you're just too blind to see it._

_We will not be discussing him. At all._

_And what's wrong with the bloody bird? It's perfectly fine._

_S_

* * *

Draco glared at the paper. But the buzz around the Slytherin table, soft and eager, brought him out of his stupor and he managed to stop his hand before he patted the small creature in front of him. Instead, Draco gave it two pieces of bacon. The owl ruffled its wings, gave his fingers a soft nip, and took off with the rest of the owls.

Krum was shaking his head, his quiet voice not able to rise over the questions about him and Hermione. Casting a quick glance over to the bushy haired girl, Draco saw another large pile of letters in front of her. After they reached so high, she would flick her wand and the notes would be engulfed in flames. If it was a Howler, it would be burned on sight.

Bored of her already, the blonde turned back to the other Slytherins.

However, he decided he wished he hadn't since they were _still_ talking about that article Skeeter wrote, even though it had been months since it had been published.

"You don't like _her_, do you?" A Slytherin girl asked, nose scrunched up. "She's a filthy mudblood with the tendency to try to make others feel inferior because that's what she is. Inferior." Sniffing, the blue eyed girl turned her attention away from Krum to sneer at Hermione from across the room. "You can do much better."

"Carrow," Blaise began, not even bothering to turn his gaze towards the brown haired girl. "Shall we mention your own... interest, hmm?"

The girl blushed deeply before shaking her head and letting the topic drop. Her twin, Hestia, patted her on the shoulder with a soft smile. "Don't worry about it, Flora." Cool blue eyes locked on Blaise's head, and she murmured something too soft for anyone else to hear.

"Draco," Krum's voice had the blonde turning to face the Bulgarian. "I vish to haff a vord with you."

Draco inclined his head and got to his feet. "I have just finished eating, anyway. Shall we?" He gestured out to the hall, even as his mind tried to catalog just what it was that Krum wanted to talk about. When Pansy went to stand, Draco gave her a small glare. "I was not aware that your name changed, Parkinson."

She sent him a dazzling smile before focusing on her food again.

Positive he would never understand girls, Draco turned to lead the way out of the Great Hall. Casting a quick glance at the Gryffindor table, catching himself just in time to not tense. Those two twins, with their auburn hair, were staring at him.

"Shall we go outside?" So, instead of being confused, Draco turned back to Krum and left the hall and the twins behind.

"That is fine." Krum followed, lumbering behind without a care. Though the blonde was sure that he paused by the doors, sending a quick glance back into the room. But then the Bulgarian boy was out and the two were heading outside and into the cold.

"I can't believe it's this cold in May," Draco muttered as he wrapped his cloak around him.

Krum laughed, his head tilted to the side. "It is evening. It vill varm up in the morning, surely."

Draco allowed a small smile before inclining his head, "What was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Oh, that." Krum waved a dismissive wave. "I just vanted to get avay from everything. The... eh, the students vere becoming... vhats the vord... troublesome? Yes, troublesome."

A quiet chuckle left Draco, understanding the older boy perfectly. "Troublesome does seem to fit most of everyone. Now, since we are already outside, what of the grounds have you seen?"

"Not very much. Herm-own-ninny showed me a vew places. The... Stone Circle, I believe it is called."

"What of the waterfall?"

"There is a vaterfall? Vere?"

The simple pleasure in the seeker's voice had Draco smiling, though he made sure his back was to Krum. "It is a fair distance."

"It is dinner. Ve vill not be missed. I vant to see this vaterfall. Maybe I can bring Herm-own-ninny out vith us. Maybe she vill agree to spend the summer vith me."

"She will not want to spend time with me." Draco started down the path, careful not to enter the Forbidden Forest, but staying near enough the trees that they could get on the path once it came up.

"Vhy not? You are a good person."

"Trust me, Krum, she will not want to spend time with me."

"Viktor."

"Hm?"

"My name is Viktor. You helped me vith Herm-own-ninny. You can call me Viktor."

Confused, Draco turned to the eighteen year old boy. They were near the entrance of the path that lead to waterfall when they stopped.

_We can use him. Always good for contacts to be made._

That voice never left him alone. Never. Draco wanted to grip his hair, but he didn't, just staring into nothing. Thinking of how the voice stopped before, he immediately thought of two ways to make Malfoy cease. He threw out one without even considering it; he was not handing over control again, no matter how tired he was. The second made no sense, but it was true nonetheless: the hellions.

Krum gave a small grin, his black eyes lighting up. "I have caught you... unavares."

"That you have." Draco shook his head. "I will... accept. However, as you were talking of Granger spending the summer with you, don't you suppose you should start saying her name correctly?"

"I am not?"

The older seeker was confusing, and Draco let his mind wander a tad before he answered. It wouldn't do to insult him. The necklace around his neck was cool, so he had no reason to trust the older boy. Yet he seemed... naive. Around Hermione he was like a love struck puppy who would do anything she asked. Even though the elder boy knew strong spells, he often left his wand in his pockets - where it wasn't as quick to reach.

"Not fully correct, no. However, if you wish, I will help you."

Krum's face once again lit up, and he nodded eagerly. "Vhat do I do wrong?"

Finally, they turned the last corner and they were in front of the waterfall, where Draco lost Krum's attention. Viktor's attention, he corrected himself. His nose scrunched up. It sounded wrong even in his mind. But then, that might have been because he was so used to calling him Krum.

_He goes to Durmstrang. He knows many other students that could be helpful. We could use him._

Ignoring the voice, Draco smiled when Krum stuck his hand in the water. The tall, bulky black-haired student apparently at ease with the coolness of the water. Draco's eyes twitched when he saw a fish roll around the other boy's fingers.

Coming back, Krum... _Viktor_ turned back to Draco. "Vhat do I do wrong?"

"Not much, you just switch... sounds around. We'll start slowly. The first part is easy: Her."

Krum nodded and repeated easily, "Her."

He couldn't believe he was doing this. For Hermione, who _hated _him. "Good. The next sound is 'my'."

"My," Kru- _Viktor_ repeated once again. "So it is: Her-my."

"Yes." Wishing to rub his forehead, Draco continued. "The next is 'uh'."

"Uh? Vhat a veird sound."

Draco couldn't agree more. He didn't know which was stranger, teaching Kr - _Viktor_ - how to say Hermione's name or having the other boy wanting to spend time with him instead of anyone else. It was just strange.

"She has an odd name. Try putting them together."

Viktor nodded, speaking slow so to get the words to come out right, "Her-my-uh... it sounds vrong."

"You're almost done. When you see her next, she'll be surprised. The last part of her name is easy, it's: ne."

"It is: Her-my-uh-ne?"

"Yes. Good job. I believe it's time we head back."

Krum nodded as they walked back to the castle, still working on saying Hermione's name.

Once Viktor was on his way to the library to find Hermione, Draco went to the Slytherin Common, exhausted. The moment he walked in, he was grabbed by the arm. However, the moment he felt the touch, he grasped the offender's arm and yanked them out. Without much thought, he pressed his wand into the side of whoever it was, glaring at them until he realized it was Parkinson.

However, in a second, his glare intensified and she whimpered, recoiling backwards. "Do _not_ grab at me ever again." Still holding his wand in his hand, he turned sharply on his heel and headed into the common room and into his room.

He wasn't interested in the other Slytherin's that were meandering around. They were just mindlessly talking to each other or ignoring everyone. They were of no concern to him.

_Use them. Use them all._

Going down the stairs that lead to the rooms, he entered his and quickly grabbed his bag, making sure there was paper, ink, and some quills.

Satisfied, he exited his room and the common room, wondering how obvious he would have to be to get Blaise to follow him.

* * *

"Well, he's hasn't given us our money!" George whispered harshly even with his eyes glued to the parchment in front of him and his twin.

"Yes, Georgie, I know that." Fred pointed to a part of the paper. "There. We still have our ideas, we'll have to find some sort of investor. Maybe we could get Blondie to help."

"He wouldn't go for it."

Fred flicked at his brother's hair - mostly brown with deep undertones of dark red, "I'm sure Blondie wouldn't be averse to it."

"Whose Blondie?" Harry plopped down in a chair next to the twins. "You've been speaking about this person a lot."

"Probably another conquest of theirs," Ron groaned as he sat on the ground. "Wanna play Wizard's Chess?"

"And be pummeled by you again? Sure." Harry slithered to the ground with a grin and helped set up the game.

"You're getting better, Harry." Hermione meandered over to the four and slid into the chair Harry had just vacated. She had a goofy smile in place as she looked over at her boys. "You guys are the best. I just want you to know that."

"Of course we are," Ron laughed. "What'd we do?"

"Oh, I'm merely stating a fact. I'm just happy. Viktor _finally _got my name right!"

The twins sniggered when Ron blanched a tiny bit. "Vicky finally got it right?"

"_Ronald_, I'm in a good mood, please don't butcher it."

The youngest Weasley son shrugged, "It just kinda stuck."

Harry started the game and sniggered when he saw Ron blushing slightly in embarrassment. "Well, good for you Hermione. Do you think you'll take him up on his offer? For the summer, I mean?"

"Maybe not the whole summer, but for a while. Maybe. I'm not too sure of it, and I haven't asked Mum and Dad. But we'll see."

Harry changed the subject again, soon as he saw Ron move his piece and open his mouth to say something else that wouldn't be helpful, "So, Fred, George, who's this Blondie?"

Hermione waved that away before either of the twins could speak, "Obviously it's Bagman. He's blond, they want their money back, and they have your map." She spoke softly, careful of those who were 'working' around them. "Why else do you suppose they need it?"

The twins grinned, eyes intent on the map. Fred poked at the dot they had been keeping a lookout for. When George nodded, the two stood up and said, "Mischief Managed".

Fred stuffed the map in his pocket, even as George spoke, "See ya!"

"Oi! When will Harry have his map back?" Ron's voice had the two smirking at him.

"After today, if all goes well."

Hermione nodded, even while placing her hands over her ears. "I don't want to know what you two are planning. Now shoo before you say anything."

"Aww, Hermione, you're the sweetest." Then the two were gone, out of the portrait hole and towards the Come and Go Room.

* * *

Stomping back and forth in front of the empty wall, Draco entered the room. Irritated at the cold room, Draco pointed his wand at the wall and words were plastered on the _Draco/Dray _side: _confused _and _likes cookies_.

Obediently the room changed and books on Animagus filled the bookshelves.

He sat by the table and quickly wrote his reply to Black:

_Mutt,_

_I have no desire to read what you _think _of me. Nor do I wish to hear about your godson at the moment._

_I just want my mother to be happy, even if that means writing letters to you. So let's pretend to be civilized and not like the wizard that you are._

_Of your owl, it is lacking. That is all that is needed to be said._

_Now, since my mother seems to think - as apparently so do you - that you are good. You might want to start proving that. What does my mother see in you?_

_D_

By the end, Draco's handwriting was going haywire and he had to write it again so it would be legible.

Finished, the letter disappeared, and he hoped that it went where he needed it to go. He got to his feet and marched to the hammock to crash on.

It was almost June. The last time he had a decent sleep was the day before the second task, which was months ago.

_You can sleep again once you let me out._

Grabbing a pillow to cover his ears, it didn't seem to help.

_I'm not going away. I am a part of you. You can't run from yourself._

Huffing in annoyance, he allowed himself to throw the pillow. He watched it sail across the room and thunk against the wall. With a swish of of his wand, the pillow exploded and feathers fell around. Another wand twirl had the feathers dancing around. The third flick had them all rushing back into the pillow again, good as new.

He glared at the book, not wanting to read anymore. He just wanted to get it done and over with.

"Dobby!"

A _crack!_ echoed around the room and there was Dobby. "Master Draco called, sir?"

"Yes, how -" he stopped in mid-sentence when Dobby turned from him, a long, tapered finger pointing at nothing. "Dobby, what is it?"

"We is not alone, sir." A snap of his fingers revealed the twins, who smiled sheepishly up at them. "I cans be removing them, sir."

"No, it's alright Dobby. They'll find me another time." Draco got off the hammock and strode to them. "Well? I believe I gave you a time-limit. And that time-limit is almost out. Do you have an answer?"

One of the twins placed an arm around his brother's waist, and the other draped his own arm around his twin's shoulders. "We've considered," they both started.

"But we do..."

"... Have one..."

"... Condition of..."

"... Our own..."

"And what, pray tell, is that condition?" Draco crossed his arms over his chest, waiting.

"We want you..."

"... To have some way..."

"... To communicate with us."

Blinking, Draco stared at the two hellions, not sure if what they said was true. "That is simple."

"Ah, but don't forget, Blondie. We have that Unbreakable Vow, so it has to be a way so we won't get caught." The twin who had his arm over his brother's shoulders spoke first.

"And we would really appreciate it if we didn't have to die."

"As I said: simple." Draco looked between the two. "So you agree to the terms?"

"We want to see your way of communication first."

Narrowing his eyes, Draco debated over actually giving the fourth, and final, diary over to the twins. But then, if they were distracting him, then maybe he would get some rest from Malfoy. "I only have one, so you two will have to share."

The two smirked, slowly. "We share everything."

"I'm sure you do. Jordan must be impressed." Before the two could say anything, Draco turned to Dobby. "You know what I need, Dobby."

"Master Draco will give it to these Wheezies?" Dobby narrowed his eyes at the two in question. "I's go gets it, sir."

With another _crack!_, Draco sat in one of the chairs - which there were, conveniently, three. "I will explain it to you before he gets back. Do not interrupt me. To anyone who is not either of you, the diary will appear as some sort of notebook that fits you two. However, to you two, it will hold messages to and from me. If you wish one gone, just dismiss it and it goes. The message will appear in my diary as you write." He gave a swish of his wand, and his own diary landed in his lap.

The two hurried over. "It looks like notes for classes."

"Exactly my point." A _crack!_ had the three turning to where Dobby stood clutching a diary. "Dobby, give it to them."

With huge eyes narrowed, Dobby handed the book over to one of the twin's. "You must be putting magic into it. Master Draco had his finished because Master and Mistress infused it with their own, and since his is mixed, it works for him and only him."

The two nodded, pressed their wands to it and sent magic quivering into it. "Wicked," they breathed as the book just absorbed it.

"I dids the next part," Dobby snatched the diary back and looked towards Draco, "What does Master Draco be wishing to call the two Wheezies?"

"Hellions," he answered quickly.

Dobby put his own magic into the book before he turned back to glare at the two, "What will Wheezies be calling Master Draco?"

"Blondie," the two grinned at the house-elf.

If it was possible, the glare intensified before Dobby snapped the book closed and tossed it to the two. The twins immediately opened it once again, eyes wide and looking at the blonde.

Draco rolled his eyes as he opened his own and wrote very quickly, the twins looking down at their own book.

_Hellions,_

_Satisfied?_

"Wicked," the murmured again as they watched in amazement. Then they looked up, all amusement and awe gone. "We'll take the vow."

* * *

A/N ta da! Lol. So it was just recently that I realized that almost all of these chapters are basically leading up to the whole plot. * facepalm * But all these chapters are very much needed because otherwise, if I had jumped right in with the twins being around Draco and such, it would be extremely confusing. XD

Just so you guys know, the plot is basically the same in the books: Kill Voldemort. Except Draco is on the good team (YAY DRACO!) and so everything is different. Hmm... Yeah. Kind of sad of me to figure it out this far into the story, hm?


	17. Pup

A/N I just wanted to give a huge shout out to everyone whose replied to the story. You guys are awesome and they make my day to read them!

Anyhoo, I absolutely love this chapter for two reasons: 1) The twins and 2) Crookshanks.

Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do!

* * *

Draco looked between the two, momentarily caught off guard. He hadn't believed, not really, that the two would agree to it. Why would they? All they wanted was to get to know him, so surely they wouldn't have agreed.

He nearly sagged in relief when they said they would.

Nearly. He kept himself straight, though he did eye the twins warily. "Very well. However, before we continue, how will I be able to tell the two of you apart?"

The twin to the left grinned as the two pulled out two necklaces, the two extremely different. "With these."

"No." The blonde shook his head, a frown beginning to mar his face. "Do not even _attempt_ to think that I am naive enough to believe that you two wouldn't switch the two."

"We don't." The two spoke as one, identical smirks now in place.

"That's why we put charms on them so two things happen. One: they'll only be visible to you." The twin to the right quickly clasped his into place, and for a moment it seemed to shimmer before going back to normal.

"Two: they'll stay in place until, if and when, you are able to tell us apart without the use of them." The first twin copied his brother, and his necklace did the same thing.

Draco cocked his head to the side, beckoning the twin to the left to come forward. There was no harm in double checking. The twin merrily skipped forward, having to lean down so Draco could reach the taller student. After moving the necklace around some and - even using his wand and different spells - trying to unlock it, decided it wouldn't.

"So, if I can never tell you two apart, these will stay on. Forever?"

"Such a smart Slytherin," they both replied.

He glared at him. "Alright, who's who, so we can get the Unbreakable Vow done and over with."

The twin nearest to him stuck his hand in the air, "I'll go first."

"Name," Draco sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Fred Weasley, at your service." The twin, still very close to Draco, did a tiny bow.

The blonde took a few uneasy steps back with a small frown. He sent his gaze towards the neck, and memorized the necklace. It was more of a chain than a necklace anyway; it was silver loops all the way around his neck.

He looked over at George and his necklace. It held a pattern of three, golden rings interlocking each other, then a larger ring, then the three rings again. Simple.

"Do you two know how an Unbreakable Vow works?"

"Yep! Nearly got Ron to make one when we were younger." George semi-skipped over and pulled out his wand as Fred reached and grabbed Draco's hand is his own. Draco fought the urge to step back and won, but his hand still felt tiny in the twin's hand.

When he felt the tip of the wand on their linked hands, Draco cleared his throat and began, "Will you, Fred Weasley, never mention that I, Draco Malfoy, have ever met with you or your brother, George Weasley, in any way, shape, or form until I release you from this vow or give you permission to?"

"I will."

A tongue of flame escaped from George's wand and wrapped around the two hands like a link.

"And will you not speak of the things that will be mentioned between you, your brother, and I in the the time that we will be together, at any point in time, when I deem it to be important?"

"I will."

Another thin link of chain joined the first, beginning a chain. The twin's were looking at him, confusion in their eyes, but Draco merely continued, ignoring their looks.

"And will you, if I ever receive a different form, never mention that it is me until I deem it appropriate to do so?"

"I will."

A third and final string of flame erupted from the wand and mingled with the others. For a moment, all three twisted and fought with each other, until finally they surged into one band and wrapped themselves around the two wrists. Then it seemed to sink into their skins and forged with their blood, leaving Draco feeling warmer than before.

But then the feeling was gone and everything was back to normal.

He released his hold on Fred's hand, but the twin refused to let go. "Let me get something straight, Blondie. The second one, you said 'when you deem it to be important'. Does that mean, if you don't deem it important, we can tell others what we've spoken about?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, "and here I thought you were smarter than the average Gryffindor. Of course that's what I meant. You will not be able to say that it was me, in any way, of course, but you can speak of our conversations that I have not disapproved of. You will have to have an excuse to give to the others, will you not?"

The two nodded frantically, but Draco continued, "I also believe you two know when discretion is needed. When an important subject is brought up, and I don't say it needs to stay between us, you know the time and place to share that information. I do hope this doesn't become a problem."

Fred smiled, but George pouted. Though for an entirely different reason. "We won't be able to call you Blondie in front of anyone. Your hair is a dead giveaway, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione are thinking it's Bagman. It wouldn't be long before Hermione, at least, figured it out that we weren't talking of him." He huffed, but quickly changed positions with Fred, who had _finally _let go of Draco's hand.

Draco then started the event all over, merely moving the names around.

When it was at last finished, he released George's hand and sat on the floor, finally able to relax a bit. He then proceeded to ignore the hellions. "Dobby."

"Yes, sir?" The squeak of the house-elf caused the twins to jump, making Draco grin. It seemed as if the two had forgotten about Dobby. They turned to the small elf, who was hell bent on glaring at the two, as if he could cause the two to vanish into dust.

"I am finished with reading these texts. They say very little on the actual change into Animagues, only focusing on who is one and the basics of it all, saying most of it is in meditation. However, I feel they are leaving something out."

Dobby turned tennis ball-sized eyes to Draco and nodded, his large ears flapping around his face even as his hat slid down to his nose. Dobby fixed it before answering, "You is right, sir. Master Draco shoulds has no problems with it, sir. It is very similar to Legilimens, which you have mostly mastered. In Master Draco's landscape is his animal. Alls you need to do is look for it and it will be there."

"Why have I never found it before?"

The twins sat in front of Draco. George on his belly with his head in his hands. Fred had his legs folded, elbows on his knees to keep his head up on his palms.

"Master Draco has never found it because you have never looked for it."

"If I simply have to find it in my landscaped, why haven't others found there's as well?"

Dobby grinned, clapping his hands, and must have forgotten about the twins. Draco smiled gently at the creature, once again glad he had the house-elf back.

"No, Master Draco. They must be extremely skilled at it, like you and Mr. Snapy, sir," Dobby's face fell into a frown when the twins snorted at the name. Draco hid his smirk and peel of laughter behind his hands, and quickly contorted his face back to normal when Dobby faced him again. "Not many can be skilled at Legilimens, sir because not many has patience to fix their landscapes to work to their full capacity."

"Ah, so to become an Animagus one must first become exceptionally skilled in Legilimens." Draco frowned, pulling out his note and staring down at it. He crumpled it in his fist before snapping, "Then how the hell did Sirius Black become one?"

The twins blinked before they scooted forward, ignoring Dobby and shushing the house-elf so they could blurt out, "How do you know Sirius?"

Draco glared at the two, "Please tell me you don't enjoy his annoying badgering."

The two cackled.

George contained himself first and replied, "We've never actually met him. Just what Harry says. Harry says he's an alright bloke, so we trust him. We've read some of his letters to Harry, though our golden boy doesn't realize it."

Fred nodded and continued, "he means a lot to Harry, and is very sincere."

Blinking between the two, Draco debated on whether to give the two the note he received or not.

For the first time since the twins entered, Malfoy talked, though the voice was weaker than before.

_No._

Just to spite the voice, Draco handed George the paper. While the two read it, he turned back to Dobby for his answer. The house-elf huffed in the general direction of the hellions before he answered. "Mistress says the only reason Black is a dog is because his friend needed him and was very serious about it. It took him most of his time in school - four years - to get it right." Dobby grinned at Draco, "Where you got it in two."

"I was younger, and trained daily," Draco whispered. "It is also an infinity to the Black side. It is only natural that Black would have that trait as well."

The two were cackling again, and Draco rolled his eyes. "If you two are quite finished, I am going to try to find my animal. Dobby, you may go."

The _crack!_ of the house-elf leaving, brought the two back into focus and nodded. "We won't disrupt you too much."

"You will not disrupt me at all or you will find yourselves out of this room. Also, this whole conversation we have had since the moment you walked in until the time we part ways will not be repeated until I release the Vow."

The two nodded again and watched as Draco settled himself. Feeling uneasy with their eyes on him, he folded his legs in a relaxed position. He placed his hands in his lap, eyes drifting closed. Slowly but surely, he managed to get his breathing to even out. All he had to do was focus, like he did while practicing Occlumency. Easy, and very natural. The only difference was that he had to find his animal.

Once safely in his own mind, his own landscape, he meandered around. He didn't walk to the rippling lake, he went down a gravel path. Trees cropped up everywhere, leaves rustled around before lazily falling to the ground. Bushes trembled, small fruits - filled with images of his past - trembled, begging for him to look.

Yet he searched for the single animal he knew to be there.

Time passed, but there was no concept of it. He didn't know if it was seconds, minutes, or even hours that he searched. Different paths leading to different or similar memories, all joined in some shape or form.

But finally, after contemplating leaving, a small, pointed nose was seen peeking out of a bush. The moment Draco saw it, it pulled back and ran away, a long bushy tail barely peeking out before it, too, disappeared.

Moving quickly, the blonde followed after the tiny animal. The bushes and trees parted slightly, showing a grassy path with the animal far ahead.

Still unable to see it clearly, except for the unusually large ears, Draco tore after the creature. It lead him around and around, until the lake came into sight. The animal paused right by the water, curling into a tight ball, it's ears taller than it's body.

Carefully walking forward so as to not startle the animal, he got near enough and blinked in surprise when he was less than a foot away.

In front of him was a fox smaller than he imagined. The body was mostly a tan color, with white embedded into it here and there. The bushy tail was wrapped around the lower portion of the fox's face, showing only half-closed black eyes and large twitching ears. It's nose was buried under his body, the cool, calculating eyes watching his movements.

Sighing, Draco mirrored his own position before entering his own mind, staring at the tiny mammal. It's body couldn't be more than seven inches long, it's tail only five.

The two stayed still, simply watching the other. Finally, after endless time had passed, the tiny animal stood. It's legs were tan, but morphed into white at the paws. The Fennec Fox stretched, it's tail swishing back and forth. When it stood to it's full height - six inches - Draco got a good look at the tan neck. Around its throat was a thin strip of white, exactly where his necklace was that lay around his own neck.

The fox tilted its head to the side, a soft purring escaped it even as it jumped into his palms.

* * *

The twins sat next to each other, munching on Sherbert Lemons, their eyes never wavering from the still boy in front of them.

The two had argued - in hushed tones - about what they wanted to work on and sell first when their shop was started, and how they were going to get the money.

They had just finished the Sherbert Lemons and were about to start on the Treacle Tarts that they had nicked from the kitchen when Blondie's form began to shimmer. The twins jumped to their feet, but before they could do anything, a tiny fox like creature was in his place.

"Wicked!" The two breathed together as they rushed forward.

Fred scooped it up, the creature easily fitting into his palms. "Look at him, becoming an unregistered Animagus!"

"What shall we call him, Fred?"

"Pup!" The answer was said quickly, and the two grinned when the small fox gave a tiny growl. His eyes opened for a brief moment, glaring at the two, before they slid closed once more.

"Awww, looks like he's all tuckered out." George crooned, running a single finger down the small spine. "This means only one thing."

The two faced each other, wicked smiles in place, "To Gryffindor Tower!"

Fred, cradling the fox in his arms, walked quickly out of the room with the fox, not bothering to hide under spells. After all, no one knew Draco was going to the Come and Go Room, and no one but them knew he was now an animagus. They ignored the barmy man on the wall with the trolls in tutus. Instead, they went straight to the Fat Lady, bouncing up and down on their toes.

They didn't even bother to wait for her to ask for the password, instead, they both semi-shouted, "Fairy Lights!" Even when the Fat Lady opened for them, Pup whined and dug his nose into Fred's shirt, large ears lying flat against his small head.

George immediately rubbed his thumb gently on Pup's head, muttering, "Um... guess we were too loud."

Fred narrowed his eyes at the crawl space before tilting his head towards it. "Go in and get the dung brains to go quiet. We can't bring him in otherwise!"

The other twin nodded, entering quickly with the portrait closing after him. When the lady in pink saw the animal, she cooed and clapped her hands. "What a delightful animal! What is she? She is just darling! You should get her a cute pink dress. What's her name?"

Pup gave a yip and his tail swished in irritation. Fred chuckled, letting a single finger trail down the fox's back to calm him. "He's a boy." The Fat Lady harrumphed, apparently not happy he wasn't a girl.

Then she was swung open and George's head appeared, hands reaching out the hole. "Hand me Pup and I'll hold him while you crawl through. It's... mostly quiet."

Fred smiled, handing the diminutive fox over to his brother. Once he was out of the way, Fred hurriedly entered the common room, laughing softly when the Fat Lady muttered, "Well, he _should_ be a girl. He can't possibly be that cute and be a boy." Her ranting was cut off when the entrance closed.

Everyone's eyes were on Pup in George's arms. The fox was still curled up tightly, his tail covering most of his face. Black eyes were wide, flickering back and forth between all the kids in scarlet.

"Where on earth did you get a Fennec Fox?" Hermione's voice started an avalanche.

The twins held up hands when Pup's ears went flat and a hiss escaped from between his sharp teeth. "Quiet, you lot. He obviously doesn't like loud noises."

Lee maneuvered his way through the crowd until he stood in front of the twins, a grin plastered to his face. "Then you two obviously shouldn't have him." He reached out a hand to pet Pup, but the fox jumped up - his miniature paws able to stay flat on one of George's arms - and pulled his lip back to show razor sharp teeth. A snarl, low at first, rose in intensity the closer Lee's fingers came to his fur.

Finally getting the picture, Lee pulled back and Pup huffed out a breath before plopping himself back into George's arm, obviously not wanting to move. When the fox was situated with his back towards everyone, the room - which had fallen silent when Pup let out the warning - came back to life.

"Blimey!" Ron's voice bounced off the walls even when the twins cackled at Lee's downcast face.

"No worries, Lee..."

"... It took him..."

"... a while to warm..."

"... up to us."

As soon as the twins were done, Lee's face was back to holding a smile. The boy with the dreadlocks gave the twins a wave and backed away, letting others come forward. Jason Swann and Eloise Midgen, who were sixth years, came up next.

But the two auburn haired boys waved them away, heading towards the couch. "We'll just put him on the couch in front of the fire."

George gently placed Pup there, but even as the tiny fox landed on the soft fabric, he jumped off and curled in front of the fire. His tail immediately hid his face, except for the eyes again. People were trying to crowd around, but anytime someone got too close, Pup's fur would bristle and everyone would hurry back.

Hermione sat beside Harry and Ron, eyes narrowed on the animal, Crookshanks being petted on her lap. "Really, how did you find him?"

They both shrugged - which was a feat seeing as they both were on their stomachs by the fox - and Fred answered, "Around, weirdly enough. We just followed him around whenever we saw him."

"Yes... but how come no one else seen him?"

"How are we supposed to know?" George was running a finger down Pup's spine again, grinning when a soft purr escaped from the fox.

Crookshanks jumped away from Hermione, stretching his paws out in front of him. After a few licks to his fur, he meandered over to Pup. The fox lifted his head, tilting it to the side with his ears straight up. His tiny nose twitched before he gave a tiny bark and laid back down.

The cat seemed to take that as acceptance because he just planted his bum next to the fox and licked Pup's coat once in a friendly manner.

"Oi, Harry, Hedwig's back with a letter." Ron pointed at the window, where Hedwig was impatiently tapping against the glass.

Harry sprang to his feet and opened the window for the snowy owl to enter. She landed with a soft coo on the back of the couch, holding her leg out dutifully to the boy. Yet, her golden eyes weren't trained on the black haired boy. Instead, they were locked on the tiny morsel in front of the fire.

The moment the letter was off, Hedwig allowed herself to be patted once before snapping her wings open and rising into the air.

With a soft, almost inaudible hoot, she rocketed towards the fox that lay between the two identical boys. Caught off guard, the twins rolled away, momentarily forgetting about Pup. Crookshanks gave a loud hiss and jumped over Pup, front feet above his head and hind legs behind his tail, the cat swiped at the bird.

Hedwig gave a sharp, shrill screech and left the tower in a huff.

Pup, who had jumped to his feet at the sound of the owl, barely had to crouch under Crookshanks. His tail was low, his ears laid back, and his pupils blown wide. His whole body trembled, and once the owl had left, he crumpled to the ground.

Crookshanks sank next to him, curling his body around the tiny creature.

The whole tower was silent, watching in awe as Pup allowed the cat to lick his head over and over again even as his large body let out comforting purrs.

Unfreezing themselves, the twins scrambled to come closer, but Crookshanks shot one paw at them, keeping them at bay. So they watched, unable to do anything until Pup's shaking ceased and he got shakily to his feet.

Crookshanks gave one last swipe of his tongue over Pup before ambling to his feet to go sit on Hermione again, his pug face seeming smug.

The twins came closer, but Pup hissed at them. The two crouched down, holding out their hands. Pup, whose tail flicked from side to side, sidestepped closer, eyes narrowed on the boys. When the two made no reaction to move, Pup rushed forward and bit Fred's finger until a tiny bit of blood oozed from the digit. The boy, to his credit, hardly flinched, and neither did George when the action was repeated on him.

Satisfied with the punishment, Pup haughtily stepped onto Fred's outstretched hand. The twin stuck his tongue out at his pouting twin and turned to leave. "Alright gents, we'll see you later. We're gonna go put him back where we found him."

All the kids moaned, but kept their voices relatively quiet until the twins were out of the room. When that happened, the volume hit maximum level and their voices were still heard beyond the entrance hidden by the Fat Lady.

The twins waved at the lady in the portrait.

They stood in front of the wall across from the dancing trolls when they froze. "Uh..." they both said, smiling down at the fox. "Wanna do the honors?"

Fred set Pup down, who seemed to glare at the two before he paced in front of the wall. He sat again when a door appeared, his black eyes darting back to the twins.

George opened the door and Pup raced in. The two stood there for a few seconds, debating on whether to go in. They stayed there for awhile, until they heard a voice float menacingly towards them. "Get in here. Now."

Eyes wide, the two looked at each other, shook their heads, and made to run away. However, something seemed to grab at them, and yanked them into the room, the door slamming shut behind them.

Barnabas chuckled, eyes filled with amusement, and momentarily forgot about his 'students'.

* * *

A/N Before I forget, I'm going to have to change the rating of the story to M because of ch. 20. I'm warning you guys in advance, but I'll explain it more at the end of ch. 20. I just didn't want you guys to be surprised. And as a note to that, it is an _angst_ story, _not_ a romance one. :) Just thought I should throw that out there.

Anyway, on to happier things: if you want to know what he looks like (I tried posting the link on here, but it won't let me.) then just go onto deviantart, type in Fennec Fox, and it'll be the third one. The one curled in a ball with it's tail covering it's nose.

Cute and adorable and I just wanna hug him! Sooooo, what do you guys think of his animal? Also! I made up the whole thing with Legilimens going hand in hand with being able to transform into an Animagus. Yes, that means Peter Pettigrew is good at it, but he isn't _as_ good as he could be. Neither is Sirius. The fact is - for the purpose of the story - both stopped practicing the moment they had their forms, as do many - in my mind. Except for maybe McGonagall... However, it doesn't mean that _all_ Legilimens have forms - like Dumbledore does not. Hope that makes sense...


	18. Memories are Precious

A/N Hey guys, sorry it took me about a week to update! Just so you all know, a lot of things are going on right - promotion, finals, school in general and etc. - so it might take me a bit longer to post. Hopefully not, but I'm just letting you all know just in case. :)

Now you get to see a pissed and confused Draco. YAY!

* * *

Draco was seeing red. His hair was in disarray, still wet from the bath that he received from the cat. His mouth was in a fierce frown, and his body quaked. His fingers were clenched tightly around his wand.

The twins were clutching at each other, eyes wide. One was trying to frantically open the unmoving door with one hand.

"That won't do you any good," his voice was pitched low. Draco flicked out his wand, nicking them both with a cutting hex. "You're staying in here and explaining some things to me." He stalked forward, eyes a bright blue. "The first of which is why you believed it was smart to take me to that common room."

George pushed Fred in front of himself, his chin resting on his brothers shoulder even as he clung to Fred's shirt. "You were so cute! We wanted to show you to everyone."

"And I somehow found myself almost becoming a snack for an owl." Draco raised his wand once more and pointed it towards the closest twin: Fred. "You best explain yourselves or you will find yourselves in immense pain."

"You wouldn't use the Cruciatus on us," Fred finally spoke up, trying to back up.

He didn't get very far because Draco just muttered, "Incarcerous." Ropes came out of his wand and wrapped themselves around the twins. When George tried moving, the two toppled to the ground.

Draco couldn't think, he was just reacting. His blood seemed to be on boil. His heart was pounding loudly in his chest. His breathing was coming out in ragged breaths. "I wouldn't? And you believe you know me so well."

When Fred opened his mouth to interrupt, Draco swiped his wand up and snarled, "Silencio!" When nothing came out of the twin's mouth, Draco stomped up to him and pushed his wand into his cheek. "You. Don't. Get. To. Speak."

The two nodded, George biting his lips to keep from saying anything.

Not really thinking of anything, Draco kept his grip on his wand as he paced in front of them. "I almost got eaten! You stupid, idiotic, moronic, asinine, dense, foolish, sophomoric hellions! You almost got me killed! A fucking cat had to stop the bloody bird from deciding to dine on me!"

His pace was jagged and Draco was glaring at the twins. Something came into existence: a large bowl. It just floated in front of the blonde. He slashed his wand and the thing exploded, shards going everywhere.

Again and again, different things appeared in front of his moving body, and again and again he would destroy it.

Finally Draco sat down on the floor and buried his head in his hands, muttering under his breath about idiots.

George, who kept his voice extremely low, cut through the rope and unsilenced his brother. The two scuttled closer until they were in front of the younger boy.

"They just _moved_ out of the way, conveniently forgetting that I'm a _tiny_ fox who can get eaten by the owl. They just roll out of the way, they could have grabbed me, but _no_, the owl is hungry and should get food for carrying a blasted letter." Letting go of his wand, the sound of the fall was silenced by the carpet. He brought up his knees to his chest and his hands gripped his hair. He tugged at the strands, wincing when he felt the wetness. "Then they try to come back and pretend everything was alright. That cat is now officially an ally. Stupid, idiotic hellions. They can burn in hell."

George grabbed Draco's wand as Fred spoke, "We don't want to burn, thank you. We'd rather live and bug you some more."

Draco's body trembled, but he didn't look up. His fingers tightened into his skull, "You two, leave." His voice was low, and he couldn't keep out the tremor. "It won't be locked."

"Nah," George sat and set his wand and Draco's on the ground. "We'll stay here for a while."

"You two keep proving me wrong in my thinking that you had some brains."

"We use them sparingly." Fred scooted closer and tapped Draco on the head.

Feeling the tap on his head, Draco growled, "What do you want?"

"For you to look up," the two spoke as one.

Draco didn't want to, but he released his head and brought up his eyes to glare at them. "State what you want and then leave."

"We're sorry."

Draco blinked, stunned. His legs straightened and his hands fell into his lap. "What did you say?"

"We're sorry."

Draco wasn't sure what to do. No one, maybe except for his mother, had ever apologized to him. He blinked rapidly again, and fixed his thoughts. He had been apologized to before, but out of fear. Not out of sincerity.

He shook himself out of his thoughts to hear George speaking, "We aren't used..."

"... to having to..."

"... watch an animal."

The two rubbed their heads and frowned. Draco was still too shocked to really say anything, but he was astounded by what Fred said next.

"We really do deserve more than being silenced and tied up."

Draco shook his head, "I'm used to looking after myself."

The two looked at him as if he were crazy, "You wouldn't have been fine if Crookshanks hadn't been there. It would have been our fault."

The blonde stood, towering over the sitting boys, "I am not something that you have to watch over and protect."

"You aren't, no." George said.

Fred grinned, "But Pup is."

"That is another thing I wished to bring up. Could you not think of something else? Why Pup out of anything?"

"Well, we couldn't call you Blondie,"

"or Kit or Vixen," Fred muttered, interrupting George. But George continued, having to talk loudly over Draco snarl.

"Without you blowing up or getting ourselves killed. Pup works for everyone."

"Why am I dealing with you two?" Draco groaned, rubbing his forehead.

"You weren't given a choice," the two laughed.

"Right."

"Maybe..." George started, biting his lip. Then he shrugged and dove straight in, "Maybe you should change again. We wouldn't take you out of here, and we could get used to having you around. Then we could take you out again and you would be safe."

"I am not a pet."

"And you're not queer, yes yes, we know." Fred waved a hand at Draco's frown. "This way you can get out of the room and be an adorable annoying little fox that people wouldn't dare hurt. You could get away with so many things!"

"Next year," George went on, charging over Draco's denial, "we could pull so many pranks! Think about it! You could get into places that we couldn't. You could hide better than the two of us combined. Think of all that you can do!"

"Until Granger figures out who I am."

"Ah, he didn't disagree!" Fred high fived George, ignoring Draco's point entirely.

Draco's temper was rising again. He twisted and lunged for his wand, but the hellions were already moving. Fred captured Draco and locked him against his chest. George had the wands and scooting away.

"Release me at once!" Draco snarled, struggling against Fred's grip. "I am going to beat you both until you're bloody pulps!"

"You wouldn't," Fred sat back down, pulling a furious Draco into his lap. "Do you know what we figured out while you were in Pup form?"

Draco was too confused to really think. Why was he in Fred's lap? Why wasn't Fred letting go? Why wasn't George doing anything except grin?

"No, nor do I really care at the moment. Now release me!"

"In a moment." Fred petted his hair, making the fourteen year old bristle. "Your hairs disgusting."

"I am going to kill you both." With a huff, Draco crossed his arms and glared at George. He knew there was no way of getting out of his situation, so he just decided to wait them out.

"Shush, small Pup." George waved his wand, making Draco flinch, and muttered, "Scourgify."

"Better," Fred took over and got himself comfortable, rearranging Draco as he did so. "What we realized is that you like to cuddle."

"Excuse me?" Draco turned his scowling face to stare at Fred. "I do believe you have been knocked off your rocker."

He just grinned and hugged Draco, squeezing him tight, but it was George who answered, "It's a good thing we like hugs then."

"I don't have the foggiest idea what you two are talking about!" Draco was seething again. "I do not cuddle. I am not to be manhandled. I do not talk about things like this!"

"Then change back into Pup."

"No! You'll just manhandle me some more!"

"Then you can change back and go back to yelling at us."

"I never yelled at you two!" Surging to his feet, Draco finally got out of Fred's grasp and stood. "You two are so confusing! I don't know what to expect when you two are around!"

"We really are sorry."

"For what?!" Draco was back to pacing, but everything was so jumbled around in his head that he had no idea what was going on. "Are you talking about causing me confusion? Stop changing the blasted topic all the time!"

"For almost getting you eaten by Hedwig."

"For almost..." Draco froze for a second. Then the words seeped into his head. Then he sank to the ground and just laughed.

His body shook, and his eyes were shut with the force of the laughter. He couldn't help it. He was just so confused, and then they went back to the that, and he just didn't understand them.

"I think we broke him," one twin muttered.

That just caused his gales to increase until his sides began to ache.

"Though I've never seen him laugh before." The two inched closer, one reaching out a hand to touch Draco.

Getting himself under control, Draco straightened up and got his face under control. Showing them nothing. "I don't understand you two. I said attacked not eaten. I wasn't going to be eaten."

Nope, he would have been able to protect himself. Most likely.

The twins looked at each other, then back at the blonde. "We don't get you either, Blondie."

"But seriously," Fred began. "What do you think of pranking?"

Draco gave in and cocked his head to the side. "I turned your hair pink, didn't I?" Before either twin could say anything else, and before he said anything else, he turned back into Pup.

* * *

_Brat,_

_My owl isn't lacking! It gets the job done and that is that. Though... I do need to switch owls now that I think of it. Can't be using the same owl for too long..._

_I'm good 'cause I just am. If you can't figure it out then that's your own stupidities fault._

_You're not going to tell me anything about you and blah blah blah. But what are we supposed to be writing in these letters?_

_I have an idea: you do know you're a brat, yes?_

_S_

* * *

Sirius confused him just as much as the twins did.

It had been a few days since the Gryffindor Tower incident, but every day he had gone to the Come and Go Room. And every day they had been there, trying to get him to... do something. Draco wasn't sure what went on in their heads, nor did he think he wanted to know. Either way, it kept Malfoy at bay.

What surprised him the most was that the two hadn't even used the journal yet.

Draco was leaving the Slytherin Common Room Friday after classes, the day before the third task, when he felt his necklace warm up. Pausing, he glimpsed around, but no one was there. Not that he could see.

So he kept on going, wondering how far he was going to be followed. He went to the secret passage that led to the seventh floor. As he was about to leave the passage that was in front of the Fat Lady, he wondered how he was going to get out without being seen when he saw she was gone from her portrait and no one was in the hall.

Taking the chance, Draco entered the hallway and jogged towards the Come and Go Room. He got to the front of the passage without worries, but before he could be seen by Barnabas, he put on the disillusionment charm.

Hoping he wasn't being too obvious, Draco was careful to make his footsteps able to be heard, but not obnoxiously so. He finally got in front of the wall and paced. When the door appeared, Draco left it open a few seconds longer than necessary.

Then he was in and, after a few seconds of hesitation, he shut the door. However, the warmth at his neck was still constant so Blaise was either in the room with him or right outside the door.

Before he could ask though, the twins appeared and they slapped their palms together, "We figured out how to work the room!"

Draco tapped himself on the head, a wry smile in place. "I'm surprised it took you this long." He held up a hand when George went to say something, "We aren't alone. Blaise, now would be an excellent time to show yourself."

They waited. And waited. And waited.

Impatient, Draco swished his wand around the room, muttering "Homenum Revelio."

Seconds later, Blaise was standing in front of them, his wand raised. "How did you know I was here?"

"Yeah, and how did you not know about us?" Fred pouted, not seeming to be concerned over the fact that the Italian boy had his wand out.

"You never knew we were here. Why's he so special?" George put in, hooking his arm around his brother's waist.

"Unfair," the both mourned, causing Draco to sigh.

"What do you want, Blaise?"

"Answers," the Italian boy snapped. "You've been acting strange all year, and I'm done not knowing. You _will_ tell me what I want to know."

Fred leaned closer, inspecting Blaise, "Pretty demanding, eh, George?"

"Right you are, Fred."

Blaise seemed to regain his composure and regally stowed his wand away. "Why are they here?"

"They seem to have grown a liking to me."

The twins grinned and nodded, not even bothering to deny it. Draco resisted the urge to roll his eyes at them.

"Mm, why have you been coming here?"

"Why do you believe that you need to know?"

Blaise was about to answer, but Draco saw from the corner of his eye that his diary was lighting up. He waved a hand at Blaise and dismissed the irritation on his fellow Slytherin's face and hurried over to it. It had never done that before.

"What's up?" The twins followed him, seemingly unbothered by turning their backs to Blaise. The Italian boy scuttled around until he was able to see what was going on. Draco didn't bother to acknowledge the three of them, and instead opted to look inside the diary, watching as the writing appeared.

_Draco,_

_If you hadn't noticed the diary lighting up, I would be surprised. Severus sent you a letter a week ago, but you never replied so he sent me one. He asked why you hadn't received it, and if I had a way to contact you, I was to do so immediately. I sent you an owl, but I don't think you got the letter. The only thing I can think of is that someone has been intercepting your mail._

_So I contacted you this way. Severus wants to see you immediately. He said he will be in his office._

_Darling, be careful. Whoever is intercepting your mail is only trouble. They're going through a lot of trouble to get your letters. There's never anything incriminating in it. The only thing that stands out in those letters are us being adamant about you seeing Professor Snape._

_Because of you not receiving these letters, it makes me think that you've been watched for a while._

_Please, please be cautious._

_Mum_

"Why can't we read anything?" George asked over his shoulder.

"Besides class notes. It's like the one you gave us." Fred slung an arm over his shoulder, but Draco just shrugged it off, too caught up in the words to really hear them.

"What are they talking about? It's just your notebook. What are you hiding now?"

"Zabini, we'll talk in a bit, I have to see Professor Snape."

"This is no time to be worried about a grade or a question on homework or on notes."

"It's not."

"I am losing my patience, Malfoy."

"Follow and you might get some answers. You might have to do something you don't like." The necklace was something of a cushion, but the only problem was he didn't know if someone would change drastically enough to cause the necklace to cool.

The more he thought of it, the more he detested the thing. Yet he still depended on it.

But he would make Blaise take an Unbreakable Vow similar to the twins, exempting two of the causes and rewording one of them.

Without another word, Draco walked past the three, leaving them to stay or leave. It wasn't long before the twins were on his tail.

"Ah, now I know what you look like."

Draco froze at Barnabas' painting, the man wearing a grin as trolls twirled in tutus. Mentally slapping himself for forgetting something as simple as leaving undetected by the painting. "So you do."

"Ah, don't you worry your pretty little head, I won't be telling who you are. Your secret is safe with Barnabas the Barmy! No one ever comes to talk to me, or visit in these halls very often. Come as many times as you want. Now shoo, I am still in the middle of an important lesson. I believe I am getting through to them."

Draco, though surprised, turned and glared at the twins until they sighed.

"Really, Blondie?" Fred whined, but tapped George's head to make him disappear.

"Why, though?" George's voice came from where his body was last seen, and then Fred was gone.

"You know why. Blaise, lets go. When we get near the professor's office, you will have to be disillusioned as well if you wish to enter."

"Will my questions be answered?"

"Some."

"Very well."

The two hurried down to Snape's office. Draco sneered at some first years, laughed openly at other students who tripped, and sent a smirk to the golden trio when they passed them. "Don't get killed tomorrow, Potter."

"I would have figured that's what you would've wanted."

"Of course not. There's no one else here who is so easily prone to anger as you. You bumbling idiots are an amusement to us all."

Without waiting for a reply, the two Slytherin's continued on their way and were soon near Severus' office. Blaise didn't bother for Draco to tell him, he just simply put the charm on. When it was clear, Draco knocked on the door, though he did look around carefully.

"Enter." Draco pushed the door open, waiting for the three to brush past him as they entered after him. The door closed and barriers went zooming into place.

Severus was staring down at his desk, but then his black eyes snapped upward and Draco fell with a cry as his godfather swung into his mind. It was harsher, more severe than any time before.

All of his landscape trembled and fell into a scatter, and memories surged forward.

Those sleepless nights. Malfoy's voice. The twins bothering him. The Unbreakable Vows.

Looking for his animal.

Draco's eyes snapped forward. "Get. Out." With force, Draco shoved his godfather out of his pool and hid his memories in there once again.

Snape wasn't done. He came pounding against the waves, the water crashing and sloping against ground.

But then Snape was gone. Draco lay on the ground, in the fetal position, clutching his head. Moans escaped the boy even as Severus came forward.

"Hell of a welcome, Sev," he groaned, unable to see past the blinding pain of the headache.

A potion was in his hand, and he didn't even bother to test it. He just downed it in one go, sighing in relief when the edge of pain slipped away.

"So it has begun."

"What has?" Draco pushed himself up, swaying slightly.

"The reason you asked of your father."

Draco nodded, "has been for a while. Found a way around it, though."

"I saw."

Draco sat comfortably, not willing to try to stand up. "Before I ask you my next question, I should warn you we aren't alone."

"I assumed as much. However, that will be rectified after I alter their memories." Severus gracefully spun his wand and the other three appeared. "Who shall go first?"

The twins immediately jumped behind Blaise and pushed him forward. Draco couldn't help it, a small chuckle left him and all eyes were trained on him.

"That isn't necessary, Sev. I told them to come. They would have followed anyways. Not only that but the hellions are already under an Unbreakable Vow."

"The hellions?" Severus' eyes went to the twins who, though not necessary, rose their hands with large grins on their faces. "I see. Adequate name. What of Mr. Zabini?"

"I brought him here to make a choice."

Blaise turned and glared at the blonde, but Draco just smirked. "Really, Zabini, you didn't think I'd hand you answers on a golden plate, did you? I knew you followed me from the Slytherin Common Room to the Come and Go Room. I could have easily left you behind."

Blaise inclined his head, eyes cold. "I see. What is this choice you spoke of?"

"An Unbreakable Vow to never speak of what I tell you in secrecy, or of the time - if you spend that time - with the twins and I."

"Why would you waste your times on such... plebeians?"

"I wasn't given much choice in the matter."

"We object!" The two spoke up, even as they hurried past Blaise to stand behind Draco so they wouldn't be in Severus' line of fire.

Sev, for his part, only sighed and crossed his arms. "Mr. Zabini, your decision please."

Blaise turned to Draco, his mouth tilted down. Malfoy's smirk was firmly in place, and both spoke, though only Draco knew, "You will never get your answers if you don't make that vow."

The look on the Italian boy's face was hilarious, and Draco had to clench his jaw to keep from laughing. It looked like he was forced to swallow a slug.

"Very well. It seems prudent for me to make this vow. My memory is too precious to lose." He quirked an eyebrow at the twins, "Though, I have a feeling I will regret this."


	19. What do we Have Here?

A/N This is a reeeaaaaallllllly short chapter, the shortest so far (barely 6 pages when I usually do 11-13...). So I apologize in advance. :D

* * *

Blaise had his hands clenched behind his back and looked back and forth between Severus and Draco, seeming to forget that the twins were now behind the blonde. "What would I be agreeing to under this vow?"

Draco smirked and said, "nothing you can't handle. Most likely." His smirk vanished when he felt something sharp lean against his shoulder, "If you do not remove yourself from my person immediately you will no longer have genitals."

The weight soon vanished and Draco chuckled in his mind. They were so easy to scare; a frown marred his face as he corrected his thoughts: they were so easy to scare sometimes. Then he backtracked again and nearly scowled. It was the first time to scare them.

So he stopped thinking about that and said, "You will be agreeing to three things. One: not to say, mention, or hint in any way that I spend time with the Weasley's. Two: not to mention anything that I deem important to anyone or anything outside myself, Severus or the twins until I release you from the vow in any shape, form or fashion. Three: not to do anything to harm any of us in any shape, form or fashion at any time until I release from the vow, unless we consent."

"That's an unusual third agreement."

Draco inclined his head, "Just covering the bases. There are many different reasons you could be down here for."

Blaise waited a few beats, and Draco feared that the Italian boy would refuse. But then the boy gave a sharp nod and held out one manicured hand, "Very well. I will agree with those terms."

Severus was the witness while the two boys quickly and efficiently made the Unbreakable Vow. Once that was finished, Sev looked back and forth before turning to Draco and raising one eyebrow.

It wasn't difficult to understand what his godfather wanted. Draco took a few steps to the side, careful of a cauldron that held a boiling, yellow substance. The smell of ripe fish came to the forefront of his mind, but he just tried to push the thought away.

"Now, what has been said, and what will be said, is not to leave this room or company. It is important, and will not be said outside of here or the Come and Go Room." When he received nods from the other three teens, Draco turned to Severus. "Alright, Sev, why did you need me here?"

"At our last meeting we discussed what I would do if I was in a situation similar to yours." Draco felt himself stiffen, but he nodded, moving away from the spewing potion. "The first meeting during the summer is on the second day of the break. The place it will be held out will be reveled tomorrow before the third task is under way."

Draco could feel himself pale even as he waved for Sev to continue, but Fred interrupted, "What meetings are you talking about?"

George, not bothering to wait for answer, continued, "and there's no reason for you not to tell us."

"We are, after all, under the vow." The two grinned at each other before they leaned against the dimly lit wall.

Draco attempted a smirk over at them, but it just seemed feeble and weak to him. "The meeting with the Dark Lord, of course." Before he lost his nerve, and before the twins could say anything else, he plowed on ahead, "I have two concerns with that, Sev. The first of which is when the meeting is for tomorrow. The second is how I will be arriving there. Father will certainly not take me, and it will look suspicious if someone else does."

Severus' eye twitched, "Obviously I already have a plan or I would not have bestowed upon you this information."

Unable to stop himself, Draco glanced back at the potion, watching as some of the concoction slip down the sides. Thick, slushy bubbles popped, the liquid bursting high into the air. The stench of rotten eggs and daffodils mingled with the fish, causing Draco to want to hurl.

The other four didn't look like they could smell anything. Then again, they were all a safe distance away. "Sev, what potion is this?"

"I do believe I told you I had a plan." Objects and shapes began to dance. They swayed side to side, yet didn't seem to move. Colors began to mix, churning together. "However, the other three are a nuisance."

"Woah," both twins spoke. Yet the sound mingled with everything else. The hissing of the potion, the bubbling liquid, the sharp breathing of those in the room. The twins seemed to be joined, a being with four arms and legs. Two auburn heads sitting side by side, features twisting and turning.

Draco never remembered hitting the ground, he just giggled when Blaise murmured, "This was not mentioned in the requirements."

Then everything was dancing colors before it faded to black.

* * *

_Wake up. You've been asleep for far too long._

A soft, weak groan escaped the cocoon of blankets. A soft, blonde tuft of hair was at the top of the heap, the locks moving when another moan joined the first.

Draco didn't want to move. He was in a warm embrace of darkness. Everything was toasty, but even when he tried to drift back to sleep, his body seemed to send out waves of energy.

_Wake up. You've been sleeping for over a week._

Bolting upright, blankets were strewn everywhere: rippling to the ground, engulfing a chair, and heaping across Severus' black shoes.

Blinking owlishly, Draco had to concentrate to get everything in focus and soon realized he was in the infirmary. The whiteness blinded him for a second, but then he was back in control and nearly grinned. To the right of him were the twins, snoring loudly. One had his mouth wide open with a bit of drool dripping to the ground, with an arm thrown over the side of the bed. The other lay curled in a little ball, lips barely parted. The first, after a second look, was Fred and the second George.

Another bed lay occupied, but the curtains were mostly closed and not even a peep came from across the room.

"We are to leave shortly."

Removing ideas of jinxes and pranks from his mind, Draco tore his gaze from the twins to look at his godfather. "Is it true? Have I been... unconscious for over a week?"

Severus stared at him silently for a moment before he answered, "Correct. It is now the second day of the holidays. We are to leave shortly if we are to arrive in time." The elder man flicked his wand and some clothes landed on the foot of the bed at the same time the snoring stopped.

However, before Draco could have the chance to change, they heard George whisper loudly, "You can't do that! Remember what happened last time? You don't want Creepy Creevy in your bed again!"

Draco turned his head, tilting it to the side, his blonde hair tickling his shoulder.

"Do you think if I ask nicely?"

George looked over his shoulder, grinning when he saw Draco looking over at them. After a second, he turned back and shook his head, "I don't think so, Freddie. You might lose a limb or two."

Draco watched Fred cross his arms and glare at him, his hair messy and his eyes still overcast with sleep. Then he just pouted and stared at Severus, "What are you doing here after making us all faint like that?" Then his eyes brightened and he forgot whatever was angering him at the moment, "We missed class!"

The twins looked at each other before nodding, "Awesome!"

Severus massaged his head, muttering about imbeciles before gesturing to Draco. The blonde gave the twins another weird look before shutting the partitions.

Draco got off the bed and moved about fluidly. The clothes Madam Pomfrey had changed him into was off in an instant. The horrible clothes being thrown over the curtain because he didn't want to look at them. Moving quickly, he could hear the silence from the room and almost felt sorry for the twins who had to deal with Severus.

Draco stuck his head out of the curtains. Blaise sat at the edge of his bed, legs crossed with a frown marring his face. The twins were on George's bed - which was the closest one to Draco's. They smirked at the blonde.

Draco turned away from them to face the potions master, "Alright, Sev. When do we leave?"

"Woah!" The twin's voices had Draco turning towards them. The two spread their arms out to the side, enveloping the whole room. "Where are you guys going?"

"This has already been discussed." Severus gave a tiny movement of his head and Draco immediately obeyed. He exited, movements fluid and easy. Once he was on his feet and off the bed, he dusted off his slacks and tailored royal blue dress shirt.

"What?! You said after school!"

Snape rose an eyebrow at the twins, "I do believe your... family is missing you. It seems they did not appreciate you not coming home on time. They believe it was one of your inventions that caused Draco and Mr. Zabini to lose consciousness. The Malfoy's and Mrs. Zabini are quite... agitated."

The twins both paled and Draco chuckled before standing near his godfather.

"Malfoy," Draco turned, a smirk replacing itself on his face when he stared at Blaise. "Once the school year starts again, I do not want to have taken that vow for nothing."

"It is noted." The blonde let his eyes roam the ward, spotting Madam Pomfrey bustling around in her office, oblivious of the students movements. "Let us be off."

Draco and Severus headed for the door, the boy too distracted to notice that they were being followed. His head was down, looking at the stone below him. At some points they seemed as if it was one large slab. At others, they were jagged and it was difficult to tell where all the different pieces were.

"You two will not be coming with us. You will head back to the infirmary and stay there until you are retrieved by your parents." Severus' deep baritone voice had Draco bringing his head up to the twins.

"But -"

"I will not brook any argument."

Fred's eyes narrowed even when George frowned. "Professor, we're not arguing with you. We just wanted to tell Draco to contact us when he has the chance."

"There are some things that need to be answered." George finished his brothers thought. They both turned chocolate eyes to the younger boy, and they only left when they saw the small nod Draco sent towards them.

When they were out of sight, Severus and Draco exited the castle and passed the apparation point. "It seems as if you have found some... allies in those two."

"I'm not sure." Draco absently rose a single finger to rub the necklace, which had cooled once he had left the Hospital Wing. "There are many things that remain to be seen."

Severus gave a curt nod, grabbed Draco's arm, tapped the boy on the head so that he had on a dark robe and a mask, and said quietly, "We will be on our way." He then repeated the action on himself.

Draco turned with his godfather, his stomach clenching as they apparated away. The feeling of being sucked through a tube never got to be any easier. But when they landed again, he kept his head high and a smirk in place.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

* * *

A/N Alright guys, after this chapter this story will move to the rating M. I was hoping when I started writing this that I wouldn't have to, but Voldy decided to be a bastard. :/ Anyway, hope you guys are still enjoying the story!

Also, I'm just warning you guys, I have _a lot_ of stuff going on right now, so it'll be tough to update. Hopefully after the first week off December I'll have more time because I'll be out of classes. However, I will continue to try to update at least once a week.


	20. Let Me Go

A/N First off... I am so surprised I made it this far. . This is the farthest I have _ever _made it besides my original story... Wow...

Anyway, I have two things to say before you start: 1) this chapter broke my heart to write and 2) I wish Draco had listened to his father...

And now to the reason the story has to be rated M...

* * *

Draco's entire body longed to shudder, but he quickly placed his mask on, never letting Malfoy have complete control.

All around Draco were others in robes similar to his, white masks covering their faces. There were some standing beside headstones, others stood in the open. But his attention wasn't on them. He was focused on who was coming towards him who's demeanor demanded attention.

The... man before him was bald and scaley and ashen. His eyes were red and lifeless and slitted like a snakes. His gait, as he walked towards the boy, was from side to side, a serpent who made its way leisurely. As if he had all the time in the world to strike, to kill.

"I see Severus has brought you, young Malfoy. It was disturbing to think you wouldn't be able to join our... get together." The man-creature stopped a few feet from Draco, who lowered his gaze and gave a respectful bow. "What courtesies you have. It seems you have sired an adequate heir."

A long, pale, tapered finger was placed under his chin and forced Draco to look up. Withholding his shudder and confusion, Draco rechecked his landscape before he met the gaze of the Dark Lord. But when he made eye contact, he couldn't help but flinch when he caught movement on the shoulders. A giant snake had risen its head to stare right beside its lord.

A dark chuckle escaped thin, barely there lips. "Ah, you know fear. Perfect." The Dark Lord slid into his mind, and Draco could only wait as the man strolled freely along in his brain. When he neared the water, he seemed to barely tap into the wet before drawing from his mind.

"Interesting." The Dark Lord backed away and Draco wanted nothing more than to fall to the ground in a heap. Instead, he straightened and held his head high. Severus stayed right by his side, unmoving, and Draco followed suit.

The Dark Lord was moving around the figures shrouded in shadow, all with masks similar to the one he himself wore. A simple follower, one who did and obeyed at a moment's notice. Without a second thought.

_That's what would be good for us._

Draco pushed the voice back to listen, but the lord's voice was soft. Finally, all movement stopped. No one fidgeted. No one moved. No one seemed to want to breathe too loudly.

Then he was staring into those empty eyes again, and no matter how hard Draco clenched his muscles, he shuddered at the silent apparation.

Something at the center of his stomach yanked Draco forward and into the midst of everyone. The moment he stood there everyone closed ranks around him, leaving him in the middle.

"Tonight is a night of remembrance, of obedience." The Dark Lord moved around the circle, his words spoken softly, the hissing of the snake mixing with his voice. "Tonight is a night where I make an example, to show what happens to those who fail me."

Again, Draco gave a tiny shudder as his eyes slowly made its way around those in front of him. The only things he could tell apart were the height and masks. No one twitched. No one gave a comforting sign he was so used to. There, in that circle, Draco doesn't know how many were there.

Twenty or more, all their eyes upon him.

"Draco, do you realize what your father has done? And what many have done?"

"Abandoned you, my Lord."

"What a strong word, abandon." That figure glided towards him. Each step slow, measured and calculated until he was studying the boy. "Yet, it fits. What should be done?"

The words left Draco's lips, both willing and filled with knowledge, "Punishment, sir."

"What an astute boy." The man couldn't seem to stop moving. Again and again he walked circles around Draco, a predatory grin in place. "But first, before we move onto the punishment, you will need to know your job. It is a test before you are welcomed into our fold, into our family." Finally he stopped, looking straight into the boy's eyes, diving into his mind again. It wasn't forceful, more grazing and taunting. "You will watch Dumbledore and Harry Potter and his friends. You will relay anything of importance to Severus, and he to me. I need updates every two weeks. Is this understood?"

Importance could mean anything. Importance was a wide range. "Perfectly, my Lord."

"Now, back onto the... abandonment." He no longer stood in front of Draco. He once again circled in front of all those gathered. "My punishment will be for my Inner Circle, my most... trusted. Step forward, in front of the boy."

Six figures slowly made their way in front of him, Severus included. When they stood there, the others closed the circle, moving forward.

"My Inner Circle should have been looking for me, but instead many of you hid or landed in Azkaban. Only Pettigrew searched, and then only out of fear. Not one of you searched out of loyalty, even though I had made it blatantly clear I would live forever." The serpent man walked through the gaps between people. His wand trailing over their bodies, his eyes grazing each and every one of them. "The only acceptable justification came from Severus. Our spy." He stopped in front of one, his wand pressed firmly in the person's chest. "Lucius, your excuses were sickening."

Draco's eyes immediately landed on his father, but the man was stock still. His face was bowed and unmoving.

"What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Nothing, my Lord."

"You are my biggest failure. I do hope after tonight you will not be such a lost cause. The punishment that is to be inflicted tonight will be on your own son." Draco watched his father jerk a tiny bit, and the Dark Lord's cackle trapped them all. "Lucius, for all his failures, will be tortured this way. However," the man looked around before landing on Draco, "anyone who... misbehaves again will have a similar fate."

The blonde shuddered even as the Dark Lord slid forward. The snake around his neck slithered around, its head moving back and forth even as a low hiss escaped it's open maw.

Draco found a wand pointed at his face, and had to work not to tremble or fall. "You will be our example, Draco. This is what you will suffer if you fail me. If you do me proud, you will have a world where wizards are the supreme beings and all the _filth_ will be cleaned away."

"Yes, my lord."

"Such an obedient child. All of my Inner Circle will cast their punishment upon Draco. I will go first, Lucius will go last. None of you will use the same spell. If any of you fail to punish this boy to the fullest extent, the punishment will be turned onto you until you can perfect your technique." The Dark Lord tapped his wand to his temple, his sadistic smile still in place. "I will choose three things for you, Draco." He lifted his wand and said clearly, "Obscuro."

A large, thick cloth made its way over Draco's eyes, tying tightly behind his head. He could see nothing. He resisted the urge to twist his head this way and that, or to even shuffle his feet. He kept himself planted firmly still.

Something else happened, making his body tingle, but he couldn't hear what was said. Giving in, his body gave a short tremble, anticipating the pain. All that came were more words.

"Everything that is done tonight will be reflected on whoever disobeys and intensified." Silence met his remark.

Sharp, dagger like knives seemed to stab into his body. Draco bit straight through his lip to keep his scream at bay. But it merely intensified.

He shook his head, looking for anything to keep his mind off the pain. Off the stabbing knives. But he couldn't see. No matter how hard he shook his head he couldn't see. He could only feel.

His legs buckled and he fell to his knees. Liquid trailed down his face. Wherever it touched, knives and daggers followed.

Over and over again.

It was worse than what his father ever did.

His body trembled. His arms quaked. His back arched. His mouth wide open. Even his lungs screamed at him for breathing.

Then it stopped. He slumped forward, his hands resting on the ground. He could hear his raspy breaths. He could feel the sweat trailing down his body.

"Hmm... Impressive. Lets try again."

It was back. Stronger. Harder. It was all he could feel. Without thought, Draco gave in. A yowl of pain left him, and he simply fell to the ground. His fingers dug into the dirt. His body thrashed.

Screaming didn't help. It only brought the knives to his throat. Again and again they dove into him. Again and again he yelled. Again and again it was worse.

Finally it was gone. Draco lay shuddering on the ground, unable to move. Unwilling to move.

"Alecto, you're next."

Draco tensed, his head moving side to side to catch any hint of where the red haired woman would be.

Nothing happened, except for the rush of wind, the rustle of cloth, the snap of twigs. Slowly, Draco got to his knees, arms almost giving out on him. Then he clambered to his feet and swayed.

He wouldn't kneel. He wouldn't lay plastered on the ground.

One down. Six to go.

"Good. Very good. You have spirit."

"Diffindo!"

His robes, his _body_ ripped. Layers of skin folded back, blood sputtering from his chest to the ground. He tried to focus on something. He tried to ignore the searing pain.

"Diffindo!"

More pain. A strangled moan left his dry lips. He stumbled back a step, but another shout had his back erupting. Spasming, Draco fell to his knees again.

The shout kept coming back. All he could hear was that one word. And laughter.

His parents came to the forefront of his mind. He clung to that image. The laughing face of his mother. His father's small smile.

He dug his fingers into the dirt. The rough, small gravel sinking under his nails.

His body quivered. His arms shook with no control.

Again the shout. Again the pain. Again nothing in his mind. Again with the laughter. Again with his parents. Again with the shout.

Then everything stilled. There was no more laughter. There was nothing but darkness.

That voice was back. Slippery and smooth, "Amyous."

Two done. Almost halfway. Almost halfway. Almost done. Almost done.

He kept the mantra up. He could hear so much. But not what he wanted to hear. He didn't want to hear the grass moving in the wind. He didn't want to hear small _ticking_ noises of small stones falling to the ground. He didn't want to hear the shuffle of cloaks. He didn't want to hear any of it.

"Impediment!" Draco was lifted off the ground and tossed. The air rushed out of his lungs when his back rammed into something, his back shrieking. He fell forward and slammed into the ground.

His face was smashed, and his nose broke. Sweat soaked through his clothes, blood seeping off his skin and into the ground. When he tried to move, his body screamed in defiance.

But it didn't matter. He was back in the air, being thrown into something else. He would have screamed in pain, but he had no breath to do so.

Thrown like a lifeless doll, Draco waited for the moment of impact. A sharp stone embedded into his leg as his back crashed into something else. A shrill shriek left Draco's lips as he was once again flew away, his leg ripping away from the stone.

He face planted once more, and he felt that tingle again. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't blackout. He continued to feel. He continued to see nothing. He continued to hear.

"Avery."

Three... out of how many? Already Draco's thoughts were fuzzy.

"Furnunculus."

Draco moaned as his skin pulled and stretched until he could feel large balls of _something_ on him. Anytime he tried to move, they would shatter and spit boiling liquid on him.

Finally he just tried to lie still. But each tremor brought more pain.

"Nott."

"My Lord, I have a request." It was the first one who spoke once called. Four finished... or was it four left? Draco didn't know. He wasn't sure if he cared.

Silence stretched on, but then the Dark Lord's voice came from everywhere, "Speak quickly before I lose patience."

"My son has told me of lessons they have learned in school. Of witch hunts." Footsteps came closer. "Some of their tortures sounded... interesting. What better way than to test them out now?"

"Continue."

"Thank you, my Lord."

Draco could barely hear the swishing of a wand. Or maybe it was only the wind. Maybe this was some cruel dream, and he would waken at any moment. Maybe... maybe.

But he was being lifted up, gently, until he was upright. Then he was being set down, on something that reminded Draco dully of a stool. As he slumped forward, it began to heat, slowly.

It was only a mild annoyance at first. But it got hotter, making the bumps explode on his body. His mouth opened in a scream, but he couldn't move. The heat was now boiling, and his robes began to melt. But before he was left without clothes, the stool disappeared and Draco fell to the ground, once again face first. Tears rolled down his cheeks, his mouth opening and shutting, trying to get air into his closed off throat.

His face was forced up, and his mouth was parted so he could breath. His chest was heaving shallowly, his fingers and arms unable to move, his legs dead weight.

"This is my personal favorite," he could hear the words. Barely, but they were there. Draco just wanted it to end. But then something was on him, pressing against either side of his face, his forehead, and the back of his head.

Too weary to do anything else, Draco just wheezed in breath.

But then, out of the blackness, came white dots. His skull felt like it was being smushed together. His brain seemed to press against his skull, screeching at Draco to stop whatever was happening to him.

"Stop," he croaked. It was a raspy sound and barely audible. The sound grated on his nerves, but the pain left.

"Severus."

Draco wasn't hearing correctly. Everything was beginning to blend together. Nothing stood out. He couldn't hear the wind, any movement. It was just a mass of sound.

His whole body ached. Sweat and dirt clung to him. His lungs wanted to collapse on themselves. He didn't have any feeling left in his fingers or toes.

Then long, tapered fingers were on his chin, calluses skimming across his skin. "Open wide." Draco wasn't sure if his mouth would obey. It was already parted. Maybe he was just imagining the voice. Then a finger was in his mouth, pressing a certain spot to make his mouth fall open.

Something was poured in. For a second, it stuck in his throat, but then he swallowed and fire erupted in the pit of his stomach. Groaning, he moved himself into the fetal position, a whimper of pain leaving him as more boils exploded.

"Water," he rasped, his body trembling. "Water."

Something went down his throat again, and he gulped it happily, but another scream left him. "Stop, stop! Stop it!"

In front of him, deformed figures drifted towards them. They had no eyes and no nose, just a mouth, large and open. Teeth gleamed, saliva dripping down their chins.

"Make them stop! Make them stop!"

Something was murmured, but it was soft, mingling with everything.

There was something cool pressing against his lips. He shook his head wildly, forgetting about pain. He just wanted to run away. But he couldn't move his legs or arms. They were just there, unresponsive, as the _things_ drew nearer and nearer. His stomach screeched at him, his intestines thrashing against each other.

The thing on his mouth was tilted, and he could feel the wetness running down his face. _Good Merlin, let it be water_, he pleaded. His throat was parched and he could feel his lips cracking. _Please. Water._

Draco's mouth snapped open, and he greedily gulped the stuff down.

But the creatures got closer, raising their arms. Claws, sharp and curved, drew near his face and Draco could only weep. "Stop. Why are you doing this? Stop."

The creatures were beginning to fade, but he could still see them. He didn't feel his arms yanking his body up. He didn't feel the back of his robe being ripped to his waist. He didn't hear someone take in a deep breath.

All he could do was watch the monsters leaving, turning their backs to him. But one turned back towards him, that wide mouth stretching into a grotesque smirk. Then it opened its mouth, and a high shriek echoed.

Draco's back arched, his bones popping. His fingers clenched, unclenched, then fell lifelessly, motionless.

Again the pain laced his back. Again the creature shrieked. Over and over again.

His back twisted and turned, trying to get away from the rough material that burned into his back. He had his mouth wide open in a silent scream.

The sound of the creature changed. It morphed into a loud crack of sound, soon followed by a sharp, quick, hot pain that laced across his back.

Soon he couldn't take anymore. His body stopped fighting. He could still feel the pain hitting his back, the screech of the creature the only sound he could hear, but he could not move.

When it ended, he slumped to the ground. He didn't hear anyone speak, but there were words spoken. He didn't hear anyone leave, but soon there was only two people that stayed behind. He didn't hear their rushing feet, but his head was risen. He didn't hear them speak, but he whispered, unknowing he was able to see and looking at his godfather, "Let me go. _Please_." He wanted to disappear, to float away. But he was stuck. "Let me go."

The next second, he felt himself slip into his desired blackness and knew nothing else.

* * *

A/N Soooo, the intro to the torture was longer than I expected. Silly Voldemort wanting to make a show. He's such a drama queen.

Please don't be too mad at what happens to Draco. :( I was angry at myself for writing this, and it's not as bad as I could have made it...

If you guys are wondering why he never passed out from blood loss it's because the second spell Voldemort did was a blood replenishing one so he wouldn't die. Such a smart, cruel Voldy. And his third spell was, of course, crucio.


	21. Burn

A/N Alright, so that chapter of pain is now over. So here you go, the next chapter!

* * *

Draco didn't know where he was.

Trees were everywhere. Thick limbs were twining together. The leaves all molted black. There was no wind, yet the leaves swayed. Few filtered down, straight towards him, to land on top of his head.

The blades of grass under him were all dead. They were all coated in a mucky brown. If he had inspected closer he would have seen only bugs there. They crawled over each other. They ate one another, twisted and brawled against each other.

There was no sound. Nothing. The leaves didn't whisper, just watched. The trees didn't sigh, just stood rigidly still. The grass didn't dance, just drooped lifelessly.

A strong, rancid odor filled his lungs every time Draco took a breath in. It seared down his throat like moldy oranges. Sour, and disgusting.

Moving forward was the only logical thing he could think of. But when he tried to lift up a foot, he found that he couldn't.

Looking down at himself, he felt his blood chill and his body shiver. Chains slithered and climbed up his body, the only thing he seemed to be wearing. The end of the chain beginning to hiss. Slowly, it morphed into a huge snake.

Unblinking eyes stared up at him. A forked tongue ran along his bare skin, tasting. Around and around his body the snake slithered. It was up to his shoulders, it's tail still on the ground, but he couldn't see his lower body at all.

His entire body was covered by the writhering snake.

Wind blew, carrying a sound with it. Draco strained, trying to listen, but the snake pressed it's face on his cheek. The soft hissing sound slipping into his ears.

It was all he could hear. But then a gust of wind shook him and the snake, and the serpent barred its gleaming fangs.

Without another thought, the snake struck for his neck. But then, Draco heard it: "Master Draco" and he bolted upright.

His chest was heaving, his eyes blown wide, his hair a tangled mess. Warm blankets pooled around his waist, the soft material seeming to scrape over his skin. His hands, fingers shaking, slowly raised and ran over his body, checking for marks.

He found them.

Finally, he let his eyes wander down. His arms were covered in scars and marks. His chest covered. Gradually his hands drifted to the blankets and peeled the blankets off. Letting out a breath of air he hadn't realized he had been holding, Draco found himself in night pants.

"Master Draco has finally woken."

Draco spasmed in shock, his back screaming. In vain, Draco tried to keep sitting up, but he eventually fell back, a pained cry leaving him.

"Master Draco!" Dobby's voice speared through the pain, and Draco blinked away the hurt. The house-elf was leaning over him, tennis ball eyes staring at him. "Bad Dobby! Bad, bad Dobby for surprising Master Draco."

The elf grabbed a book - a very familiar book - and began to pound it against his head. Draco groaned, bringing a hand to massage his forehead, "Dobby, stop. I'm fine."

"Master Draco is brave. But sir is in pain!"

"I can live with pain, Dobby. Stop."

The elf trembled, but stopped. "Dobby is sorry for surprising you, sir. Here is Master Draco's diary." The elf handed it over with his head bowed, his floppy ears slapping against the top.

The boy flinched at the sound, but took the book. Luckily, Dobby had thought ahead and had it close to the blonde so he wouldn't have to reach too far. The elf gave a tiny bow before leaving with a _crack!_.

Sighing, Draco opened the book and frowned at the inside. There were five notes from the hellions.

* * *

_Blondie,_

_So what's going on? It's nearly the middle of June and we _just _got home. Did Sevy ever tell you why we all passed out?_

_And what of Blaise? What's up with him being all: I want answers and bla bla bla? Such a killjoy._

_Mum was furious at us when we got home. Apparently it was another prank we made up. Do thank Sevy for us, he gave us another bright idea._

_F & G_

* * *

_Blondie,_

_Apparently adding P.S.'s doesn't works. Depressing, really. Anyway, where did you two disappear off to?_

_F & G_

* * *

_Blondie,_

_Now it's the almost _July_ and we haven't heard from you. At all. What's up with that? That's why you gave us this journal thing. Unless you only made it possible for us to read what you wrote. LAME!_

_Write back, Blondie. We're bored._

_G & F_

* * *

_Blondie,_

_Ron is driving us bonkers. He's been trying to eavesdrop on our parents for the whole summer - and has been failing at it. Honestly, we don't know why we call him brother. He and Percy are similar, seeing as they tend to act first and think later._

_Now, Ginny on the other hand, is creative. We're hoping she'll join our joke shop one day._

_OH! We never did tell you about our joke shop. We already have a name picked out - Dobby helped that out when he called us Wheezy's, by the way. It'll be: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes! Catchy name, eh?_

_We just need the money to get it started and we were hoping that _(the handwriting changed, and Draco gave out a low chuckle. But he had to stop quickly as it sent pain searing down his spine) _you knew Fred is an idiot._

_Onto a different topic, we would really like to know what the hell happened when we went to see Sevy. We just _(once again the writing changed, and Draco only dared to smile) _thought we should remind you that George is a git who likes to _(George's writing was next) _sing in the rain. Really, Fred, so do you._

_Later Blondie!_

_G & F_

* * *

_Blondie!_

_Just so you know, we wrote: Seriously Blondie! But apparently the diary didn't like that seeing as your name was first._

_Do you know it's near the beginning of July? What have you been doing all this time? Sleeping?_

_Blondie, we're bored! Save us!_

_The only thing we have to do is bug Harry now that he's with us._

_Seriously, Blondie, write back!_

_F & G_

* * *

Draco was about to set the diary down, but he watched, enthralled, as another note appeared and he watched as they wrote - Fred, again, if he figured out the difference between their handwriting.

_Blondie,_

_Why aren't you wriiiiiiiting? It's the second week of July already!_

There was a slight pause, and the writing changed, George seeming to take over.

_Blondie, Fred is going insane. The whole point of this note was just because Fred wanted to say that we're going to be able to open the shop soon, no thanks to you. He's joking, of course._

_Write back, and save me from my brother's insanity._

_G & F_

* * *

With a sigh, Draco took a look around the room. He was taken by surprise again when he finally noticed he wasn't in his own bedroom. This one was white, with a large, open window overlooking hills. A dresser beside his bed, his wand lying neatly on top.

After a few sluggish minutes, Draco finally remembered where he was. Sev's house, in the bedroom he stayed in when he visited his godfather.

With a raise of his hand, his wand went zooming into it and landing with a _smack_. With a swirl of it, and a murmured, "accio quill and ink bottle" the two items flew towards the boy who caught them easily. Placing the ink bottle on the table beside him, Draco wrote a short missive.

_Hellions,_

_I have been... out of commission for a while. However, I will not be able to write for long. I will give you your answers next time I see you. There's too much to say on paper._

_Draco_

Exhausted from even that, Draco set the book down, not bothering to wait for a reply. Even as he placed his quill beside his diary, the door opened and Narcissa came running in, dress in hands so she wouldn't trip on it.

"Oh, Darling!" Tears streamed down her face as she rushed to him. He cringed when it seemed she was going to hug him, but she merely fell to her knees beside the bed and held his arm. "I am so sorry for what happened to you. Why didn't you stay away? Oh, Darling, how are you feeling?"

"Narcissa, let the child breathe." Sev followed at a more sedate pace, opting to stay near the door rather than go towards his godson. His face was carefully blank, and gave nothing away.

"It's alright," Draco said, moving carefully into a new position. "What happened?"

"First, I believe it imperative to find out how your health is." Because his godfather hesitated, Draco gave a tiny nod, wondering why he had to do so. The last thing he remembered was what Nott did.

At the thought of Nott, all the other memories rose up and he rolled quickly to the side of the bed and emptied his stomach. Thankfully, he went to the side where his mother wasn't. The bile that left his mouth left a nasty aftertaste. His body held a sheen of sweat, and all his muscles quivered. And his back hollered at him to stop moving.

"It seems you have emptied yourself of the potion at long last, and have remembered, at least partially, of what happened." Severus cleaned the mess up with a flick of his own wand, and then carefully placed Draco back into his original position. The older man did some diagnostic spells until he seemed appeased. "You will be able to get up in a week or two."

Draco carefully cleaned his mouth and greedily drank the water that his mother had at his lips. Once the glass was empty, Draco looked over at his godfather, "What happened after Avery? Everything got... fuzzy and..." Draco shuddered, a moan leaving him as his back twinged. "Dark."

Narcissa let her fingers trail over his forehead lightly. She brought up his blankets and covered him again. "You don't have to relive it, Dray. You made it through, that's all that matters."

"No, Mother. I have the right to know."

Tears welled up in her light blue eyes. "Very well, Darling. I was forced to see it, but I have no desire to hear of it again." She kissed his forehead before she hurried out of the room and into the hall.

When she was out, Draco turned his head to look at his godfather. Severus didn't meet his gaze. "There isn't much to tell after Avery, Draco."

"Sev," Draco waited until his godfather finally looked at him. "I need to know."

"What I said is the truth. There isn't much left of the story. After Avery went it was my turn," Sev didn't even pause when Draco flinched. "I gave you two things. The first of which is called the Drink of Despair. The second was a potion so you would keep your scars, something the Dark Lord asked for me to do." Sev went to looking out the window, and Draco could trembled. "The Drink of Despair causes hallucinations. Of death, of creatures, of pain, of horrors. The drink would hold these effects until the drink leaves the system, which just recently happened to you, seeing as you have left your sleep induced coma.

"I am sure even as you slept you had hallucinations. Ones that you couldn't escape until it left your system. Lucius went next. Seeing as he is your father, his punishment for you had to be extreme, or it wouldn't hold merit with the Dark Lord. So he whipped you with flames."

Draco trembled and scrunched his eyes shut, but those monsters came back. The horrible ones with no eyes or noses. Just the large mouth, the huge teeth, and the piercing screech of a cracking whip.

When he opened his eyes, he found Sev looking at him. "After Lucius finished, everyone left except for the Dark Lord, your father, and I. Your mother was forced home by one of the other death eaters. The Dark Lord entered your mind to find your secrets, but your pain encompassed it all and he found nothing. Afterwards he left, and your father and I took you here. I healed you while your father left to gather your mother. After she was here, your father left and he hasn't come back."

Draco took a deep breath and somehow swallowed past the lump in his throat. "What did Nott do? I know it was based off witch hunts... but..." He shuddered and gripped his arms under the blankets.

"Why is it necessary for you to know?"

Pale, scared blue-gray eyes rose to meet with his godfather's. "Because I was blinded, Sev. I didn't know what would happen. He took away my sight, and things happened that I didn't understand. By the time Nott came around, all I can remember is his name and pain. Intense, crushing pain." Draco's hands left the blankets and his fingers embedded into his hair. "I could handle the darkness until I didn't understand what was happening. If I know... I'll... I'll."

A hand on his shoulder made Draco flinch, and the pressure eased off. But the fifteen year old looked up, ashamed of the tears that rolled down his cheeks.

"He did two things. The first was a stool that heated slowly. It nearly burned through your clothes before he stopped. The second was the skull crusher. I don't believe you need me to elaborate."

The boy shook his head, and Sev nodded.

"I will leave you to your rest. You're mother will be up shortly with your dinner. She will not like you here on your own."

Then he was gone, and Draco went to looking out the window. However, he wasn't able to think of anything before a bird flew through the window and plopped beside him on the bed.

The exotic, black owl held out his foot, waiting for Draco to take off the paper. When Draco took it off, the owl pecked at his fingers and flew to the top of the cabinet, waiting.

With a roll of his eyes, Draco opened it and began to read.

_Brat,_

_I've been waiting - patiently, mostly - for your reply. I don't have forever waiting for your highness to get the time to write to lowly me. Either write back frequently, or not at all._

_Cissy is important, but I will not write to a child who believes that he is better than everyone around him._

Draco crumpled the letter, face carefully blank.

_Burn it. That low life doesn't deserve our time._

So Draco raised his wand, pointed it at the paper, and watched it burst into flame. The fire licked the paper, making the edges turn black first. Then it crumbled in on itself.

But Draco shook his head and quickly doused the fire. With the flames safely out, he lowered his head into his heads and waited for his mum to come back.

_Burn it. Burn them all._

* * *

A/N Ahh, Sirius being a brat. Haha. And Malfoy making a reappearance. Hope you guys all liked the chapter! Oh, and a spoiler for the next chapter: the twins are in it!

So, I have never replied to a review where everyone can see, but seeing as it was a guest and they asked questions, I gotta... Lol. So if you don't wanna read, you don't have to. :)

To tammy6262: Yes, the last chapter was mean, but it is very much needed. I've had that scene in my head ever since Lucius had told Draco that he was planning on sending him and his mother away. Another reason I wrote it is because, in my head, I don't imagine Voldy as a very forgiving person. What better way to show your control and put everyone back in their place than to 1) torture the newest in the fold to show them that they are only for him to use and control, and 2) show the others what it means if they fail him again. :) So, I hope that clears up why I wrote and where I got the idea for it. And - though I'm not sure if this chapter makes up for the last one - I hope you like the new chapter! :)


	22. Gaining What is Desired

A/N Hey guys, just so you know, I haven't been able to write _anything_ since I last updated. However, since I am four chapters ahead –well, now three – I will post an update for you guys since you are all awesome! :D Just so you guys know, this next week is finals week for me, so I most likely will not be able to post until the week after. Hopefully after that it will be more continuous like I used to be. Anyway, here you go!

* * *

_Mutt,_

_Your last letter was completely unnecessary. I find it very hypocritical that you believe that it is alright to not reply to my letters for some time, and yet you demand for me to do so. If I have the time to write back in a timely manner, I will. If I do not, then I will not. You call me brat, however it is you that is acting like a spoiled child._

_It is that simple. I'm sure even _you_ can understand that._

_What we are supposed to write in these letters is at our discretion. I suggest we come up with a way to get along with each other. Unsurprisingly, you are already failing, seeing as you are not keeping an open mind._

_D_

* * *

Draco was attempting to not glare at his mother. "I need to go to Diagon Alley. I need to get up for other reasons, not just to relieve myself. And whatever charm you have on the mirror _will_ be coming off."

"Draco Lucius Malfoy, you will do as I say!" Narcissa's voice was growing shrill, her eyes narrowed. "You are still not well. I will go to Diagon Alley and get your things for you. And as for the mirror, it will still that way for a little while longer."

"Mother, you cannot -"

"The boy is correct, Narcissa. Stop coddling him or he will grow to hate you." Sev's words made Narcissa freeze, her damp gaze drifting towards Draco's godfather. "He is well enough to do as he wishes."

"He is only fifteen!"

_We shouldn't have to listen to her._

"I am almost of age." Draco pushed the blankets off his lap and towards the end of the bed. His chest was still bare, small scars scattered everywhere, nothing bad.

He was tired of being waited on. He was sick of everyone - except Sev - treating him as if he was fragile. Narcissa turned to argue with Severus, so Draco tuned them out. Dobby was cowering by the bathroom door with clean clothing in his hands. "Does Master Draco needs help?"

"No, Dobby. You may go."

The elf gave a quick nod, shot a quick glance towards the bickering adults, and, with a loud _crack!_, he was gone.

Draco entered the bathroom, his steps shuffling. For a moment, everything swayed and he envisioned falling, but then everything went back to normal. Shutting the door quickly, the first thing he noticed was that whatever had been covering the mirror was off.

His skin was sickly white, his eyes bloodshot, and his hair in disarray. His slacks hung off his bony hips, and seemed to barely stay on. A frown marred his face. He hadn't noticed that he hadn't been eating as much.

Then Sev's voice came back to him, telling him of his father's fire whip. That he drank a potion that kept the scars. His stomach and chest held nothing except for tiny scars scattered around. So, he turned slowly, barely able to crane his neck far enough to look over his shoulder and into the mirror.

Long gashes stretched across his back. His skin was puckered in areas, and it was all bright pink. He couldn't see any type of smooth skin anywhere. It was all mad streams of risen flesh.

He turned back around and gripped the sink in front of him. His father had done that.

_Move forward. Use it against him. It'll make us strong._

Draco ignored the voice. He gingerly stripped, not glancing down at himself or in the mirror, and stepped into the shower. The cool tile was a shock from the carpeted room. He gave a tiny flick of his hand, but nothing happened.

Great, he couldn't even do mediocre wandless magic. The only thing he could do was summon his wand to him. Weariness was seeping into his bones, and he fought to keep standing.

With a grunt, Draco pressed a tile before sliding to the floor. Even before he was sitting, the water came down in hot gushes. As always, it stung, but Draco didn't mind. He couldn't be bothered to get up and change the settings, and he had no desire to call a house-elf to adjust the temperature.

He received his freedom at last, and he had no desire to have help again.

Closing his eyes, Draco sighed, hoping that his memories would wash away like the water.

* * *

_Blondie!_

_You're back! Don't go out of commission again! We were both left wondering if you lied to us about the journals._

_So, we need to know, what pranks are we going to be doing this year at Hogwarts? Yes, you're going to help us 'cause you need time to stop being the you everyone else sees._

_It'll be fun. We'll make sure of it!_

_P.S. (since we can't do it after we sign our names, we'll put it here - we need to fix that) we're going to Diagon Alley today. If you have been 'out of commission', maybe you'll be there and we can see you - even if you have to be all haughty to us._

_F & G_

* * *

Draco smirked at the diary, opting to ignore their letter. He closed it and knew he left the two wondering if they would see him.

Blasted hellions.

His hair was still damp from his shower, and the clothes he wore were soft to the touch. His every movement was slow and deliberate. If he turned the wrong way, his back would twinge and cause him to flinch.

After combing his hair, Draco fought the urge to throw the towel into the bathroom. Instead, he folded it carefully and set it on the counter for it to be picked up later. The carpeted floor enticed Draco to walk barefoot - as Sev did, even though he would deny it and charm his feet to look like he was wearing socks at least - so he did.

Ready to leave, the blonde exited his room for the first time that summer. The carpet was a deep blue, almost black. The hallway was narrow and had four doors - two on each side. One was, of course, his, the other for his mother and father, one lead to the basement where Sev had his potions lab, and the other was another room that he had no knowledge of what lay inside.

The hallway opened up into the living room. His mother wasn't there, but Sev was sitting on the plush chair that lay in front of an empty fireplace. There wasn't much in the room. Only the one chair and couch, a table beside the chair, the fireplace, an entryway to the kitchen, and the far wall held a large window overlooking a meadow.

"When will Mother and I be heading home?"

"You aren't," Sev stands up, brushing his black slacks off. "Your father is not pleased with you."

"Because I disobeyed him." It wasn't a question.

Severus nodded. He grabbed a piece of paper off the table beside him and handed it to Draco, "your school book list. I believe the only difference will be the _Standard Book of Spells_, your Defense Book, and your new Arithmancy book."

"When will we be leaving for Diagon Alley?"

"You and your mother will be going later today. You only have two weeks until the start of school." Sev ignored Draco's sniff of disdain and the boy's mutterings, and went on to say, "I have things I must do, and I will not be disturbed."

"I'm sure you do, Sev." Draco meandered over to the couch and lowered himself gently onto the cushions. He didn't even smile when a tin appeared beside him. He simply opened it and brought out a cookie and nibbled on it. "You told me that the Dark Lord entered my mind."

Severus kept quiet, a potions book in his lap. He idly flipped it open, but he kept his obsidian eyes on his godson.

"You also said that he learned nothing because all I could focus on was the pain." The boy continued to munch on his treat. The chocolate was melting in his mouth, the warm smell wafting up to his nose. He quickly finished, small crumbs falling into his lap. Severus let his eyes fall to his book, apparently reading a few lines. Draco brushed himself off and started on another cookie. "What would have happened if I hadn't been focusing on the pain?"

Severus tapped the faded print with tapered fingers, a small frown on his face. "You would have been found out and killed."

"My family?"

"They as well."

Draco couldn't finish the treat. He set the half-eaten cookie on the table and stared at his godfather. "Then why did you take me, Sev? If my family and I were going to be killed, then you would have been as well. You would have been outed as a spy."

His godfather once again looked down at his text, reading it. "It's a chance always taken for a spy."

"Doesn't it make it difficult that we know each other?"

"It's always difficult to know a different spy. If they are found out, so are you."

"What about father and his mask?"

"His mask cannot out us without unveiling that he is also working for Dumbledore." Still Severus didn't look up. He was tracing his finger over some words, his voice strong. "It is like brewing a potion. You must move in stages, some more riskier than others. If done correctly, you will have a usable potion. If not, you vanish it, never to see it again." Sev's dark eyes raised to meet with the light ones of Draco. "It was a very large risk; however, it ended well. The next time you meet with the Dark Lord, you will be ready."

Draco smiled, "More practice, then. What about Moody? Did he get sacked for being insane and attacking students?"

"No. He was Crouch Jr. Moody was found in his own chest, held captive."

"Crouch Jr.?" Draco cocked his head to the side. He saw Sev sigh and slap his book closed. "Isn't he the one who helped the Dark Lord?"

"Yes, boy, he's the one who went to Azkaban because of his father. Anymore questions?"

"Not at the moment." Draco smirked as he saw Sev went back to his back. "I'm sorry to have distracted you, Sev. If you'll excuse me, I'll be getting ready for our departure. Dobby!"

It took a little bit longer than usual, but there was a _crack!_ and there was Dobby, standing in front of him. "Master Draco calls Dobby, sir?"

Either he was too distracted earlier or Dobby had changed . "Dobby, were you wearing those... clothings earlier?"

Dobby looked down at himself, gave a tiny squeak, and made the articles of clothing disappear until all he wore was his old pillowcase. "No, sirs. Dobby does not like wearing them. They is heavy, but I must wear them to appease Miss Granger and Mr. Harry Potter to make them happy. I dislikes it, but I must keep an eye on them." Big, round eyes looked up at Draco pleadingly. "Am I doing the rights thing, sir?"

Well, at least that meant he didn't have to see those dreadful things that were called clothes. "You're doing fine, Dobby. If you don't mind, alert my mother and tell her that we are to leave in ten minutes. If she is not decent or ready to go by that time, I will be leaving alone."

_Show her who's in charge._

"He works for Hogwarts. He does not have time to wait on you hand and foot."

Draco, who had been making his way to the door, froze and looked over his shoulder. "If that's true, then you can head back to Hogwarts and I'll find Mother myself."

"Master Draco, I cans go find Mistress! I haves missed being here with you. Calls me whenever you wishes. They will not misses me if I am gone for little while." With that, Dobby left, leaving the other two alone.

Draco didn't bother saying anything to Sev, he just continued his way back towards his room. He ignored the paintings, all of them still and views of where Severus wished to go. At least, that's what Draco guessed. He had seen his godfather many times stopping in front of one of them, his face carefully blank. Then he would turn on his heel and continue to wherever it was that Sev was going.

Once in his room, Draco picked up his diary, carefully sat on his chair, and began to write to the twins.

_Hellions,_

_What have I to gain to lie to you? If I do so, a complicated web is formed, causing more trouble than what is necessary. Omitting works so much better, and it works in my favor._

_When did I ever tell you I would be helping you with your pranks? Please, they're childish and whimsical, nothing I would put myself through. And I believe we have two different meanings on fun._

_It seems our day is going to be interesting, then._

_Draco_

Even as he was closing it, he heard his mother walk in. "Darling, what makes you believe that you can order me around?"

_We're the pure blooded heir, we will always be greater than you._

"I don't believe, Mother. I said that we were leaving soon, and if you weren't ready to go, I'll just go by myself. That is not an order. An order would have been to tell you to be ready in a set amount of time."

He looked up at his mother and found her eyes downcast. Sighing, he stood up and walked over to her and enveloped her in a hug.

"Mum, I do appreciate you looking out for me. However, I'm fifteen now. I need to start looking out for myself and for you."

Her pale arms wrapped around him tightly, burrowing her head in his shoulder. "Darling, you've been looking after yourself since you started at Hogwarts. That was always something I've never wanted you to have to do. I hope that one day, you can have true friends."

His mind took him to the hellions. But he shook his head gently as he placed his chin on top of her hair. "Maybe one day, Mum. Right now I just want to take care of you."

A watery laugh escaped her as she pulled back. "I'm your mother, Draco. I should be the one protecting you, not the other way around."

Draco gave her a tiny smile before it grew nonexistent, "You did when I was younger, Mum. However, we are pure bloods, and it's my duty to protect you when I am able." He shrugged one shoulder, the movement odd and jerky, but it made her smile. "Let's go, Mum."

He offered his arm, and she regally took it. "It's an oddity to have you taller than I, Darling."

"I'm sure, just as it feels strange to be taller than you." His mother stood around five three, and he was just over five four, growing two inches in the past year. The two made it to the floo room, having to pass Severus on the way out. The man didn't even acknowledge their presence.

Draco watched his mother get whisked away, dreading when he had to go. Finally, he took a deep breath and followed after the elder woman.

* * *

The rest of the day passed without incident. The only problem had been leaving the floo, but seeing as Draco had assumed his back would act up, he didn't show the pain he was in. After walking around, all that was left was a dull ache.

"Darling, we have everything you need, shall we head back?"

Draco's mouth was turned down, his eyes scanning the people again. The first few times he tried to reign it in, but after the first hour, he just gave in and kept an eye out for the hellions and company.

He was about to agree to going back, but he caught the shock of red hair. "Mum, I would like to walk alone for the next two hours. I just need some time alone to think."

For a moment, she looked like she was about to argue. But then she nodded, inclining her chin up so she could kiss his cheek. "Be safe, Darling. I'll see you in a few hours."

He watched her walk away, and when she had merged into the throng of people he stopped trying to follow her with his eyes. Turning his back, Draco walked for a while until he finally meandered into an alley. Once alone, he thought about what he was doing, and figured he didn't really care.

Draco would never admit that he wanted to be held and to feel safe, but he knew how he would gain what he desired.

He changed into Pup.

* * *

"Hermione, I still can't believe that you -" Ron's jabbering had Harry smiling and Hermione scowling. The rest of the Weasley's were in front of them, talking quietly to one another, sometimes looking back towards the three.

"Ronald, I can spend my summer however I please." The bushy haired girl sniffed while she crossed her arms and stared at Harry. "I'm so glad we ended up coming in together. I wouldn't have liked it if one of us had to be alone and coming in without knowing anything."

Harry grinned, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "I'm just happy I was able to escape before Dudley and his friends decided to play tricks on me."

Ron huffed and gave a tiny smile at Hermione, one she raised an eyebrow to. She didn't relent until he mumbled, "I'm sorry. It's just Krum, Hermione! Why didn't you want to spend the summer with us?"

She gave him a grin and hooked her arm through his, connecting them all. "Well, I've never been that far north before. And he has this _huge_ library I could use at any time. We were both studying, something neither of you would like to do."

Both shook their heads quickly, and as Harry was about to say something, he spotted a form at the front of an alley. "Does that look familiar to you?"

Hermione glanced over at him before following his gaze over to where the fox was. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. She looked in front of them where the twins were and muttered, "He can be one of two things. One, an animagus. Or two, one of theirs - or both - familiar."

"Wait... what?" Ron asked, heading towards the fox. "Oi, Fred, George. Get over here!"

"We've only seen it with Fred and George nearby," she murmured.

"But we've only seen it one other time." Harry argued, and grinned when the twins loped up.

"What's up, kiddies?" The two placed their arms around Harry while looking at Ron. "Why'd you call us back here?"

Harry pointed at the alley and the two lazily slid their eyes over. But when they saw the animal, they gave a shout of, "Pup!" and raced over. Both knelt and held out their hands. The tiny animal waited for a few minutes before going into one's hands while the other twin pouted.

The two talked quietly to each other while Harry watched, hands in pockets. Even as they continued walking, he could hear Hermione muttering. "Has to be a familiar. An animagus would never act that way."

The black haired boy pushed his glasses back up, scratching his head as he followed after the Weasley's. Ron went back to bickering with Hermione, and Harry's mind floated back to home: Hogwarts.

* * *

A/N So this chapter wasn't all that fun to write. LOL. It's basically filler. :) But I still hope you guys are enjoying it!


	23. Homework

A/N And now... their fifth year begins!

Also, I am going to try from here on out to have Harry have a bit in each chapter. He _is_ important, it just took him 23 chapters to become important in this story. XD And yes, the sorting hat's song is the same one as in the book.

Just as a reminder, my Harry is different than the one in the books because I don't believe Harry would have acted they way he did, so I'm making him the way I envisioned him to act. :) Just as a warning. Anywho, onto the story!

* * *

_Malfoy,_

_I have been more than patient._

_B. Zabini_

* * *

Draco was standing in front of the train, unable to move towards the steaming engine, his hand in his pocket that held the note from Blaise. His mother stood beside him, her hair pulled back in a tight bun and her head held high. His father had yet to come, and the boy would have been surprised if the elder man came at all.

Blue-gray eyes watched as others came and boarded the train. Some gave him looks and others ignored him. Either way, it didn't bother him.

_Let them stare._

"Darling, are you going on?"

"In a moment, Mother. I have no desire to mingle with plebeians so early in the morning." Draco's eyes flickered to the entrance of the platform when the murmuring started. There was Harry Potter moving away fromt the barrier, a large, hairy creature soon following after him.

After a moment - and after Hermione and Ron arrived - Draco realized that the creature was a dog. A gigantic, ugly black dog.

"Of course Potter would have an atrocious pet."

"Darling, you know that dogs are very protective of their family. They will do anything to be with them."

Draco nodded, his eyes on the golden trio. For a moment, boisterous laughter had him turning to find the twins with Lee Jordan. The two had their arms around the slimmer boy as they joked around.

He had a frown in place as he went back to staring at the so called dog. The dog that had placed its front paws on Harry's shoulders for a moment before someone pushed it off.

That's when it clicked.

"Seriously? That mutt?" Draco sighed before shaking his head. Was that man _trying_ to get caught? "Have a safe trip home, Mother." He gave his mum a kiss on her cheek, and a small smile.

"You too, Dray." She gave him a tiny hug, her arms holding him tightly for only a moment before she released him.

He gave her another tight smile before he climbed onto the train. Once aboard, he looked over his shoulder to see the twins walking away with Jordan not far behind them.

_Stop thinking of them._

He turned away and went to go looking for the others in Slytherin.

He just wished that they didn't have to hide anything. That they could just be themselves. That he would be able to give his own mum more than a short embrace.

But that wasn't going to be possible.

He was about to turn towards the usual compartment that he rode in, he changed his mind halfway. So Draco changed direction, walking lazily past people, his hand in his sleeve where his wand was.

He still got strange looks, but he still didn't mind.

"Draco, where are you going?" Pansy's voice brought him back to reality.

Cool eyes met brown ones. "Parkinson, I will go sit when I feel like sitting. Leave me."

She sighed, but she came up to him. "Draco, let's go sit down. Nott is getting antsy."

"That doesn't concern me."

Pansy gave him a head tilt and a smile. "We'll torture some first years in a little bit. Let's just sit down for a while."

_Nott._

Draco stood in the middle of the walkway, staring at the other Slytherin while other students had to skirt around the duo. Nott, his mother had never told him that Nott was in the Inner Circle. But he had been apart of the... punishment, and that meant he was important. Which meant that Theodore played an important role.

_We must watch him._

Draco sneered at Parkinson, who took a tiny step back. "I believe it's time for you to stop making a spectacle of yourself. Come, Pansy, we'll take our seats."

The girl nodded, confusion flickering in her eyes before disappearing altogether. And, for a split second, Draco could swear they looked almost blank.

The two headed towards their usual compartment, but stopped when they saw the twins leaning against a door jamb, talking to someone in there, "... Ronniekins?"

"Can't imagine he's too..."

"... thrilled to work..."

"... with Hermione."

Draco put on Malfoy's signature smirk and continued forward, speaking to Pansy, "I still don't understand why they let a blood traitor and a mudblood be prefects. I suppose Gryffindor doesn't have much to offer."

Pansy giggled as the twins turned around, half-smiles on. "Aww, look at the Slytherin prefects, aren't they cute Freddie?" Taking a look at the boy's neck showed it was actually Fred speaking as he had the chain necklace on.

"Adorable, Georgie." George grinned. "This year'll be fun."

"Slytherin prefects?" Harry's voice drifted towards him and Draco had to force his body to keep completely still. The messy black head poked out with curiosity, but then it glazed over with a glare. "Should have known."

"Of course you should have, Potter. Who else would have gotten it? You are in fifth year, I should hope you would have known how to use your brain by now." Draco rolled his eyes as he placed his hands on hips. But then a large, cheshire grin overcame his face. "Mad that you didn't get the prefect's badge, Potter?"

"Why would I want to deal with looking at your face at the meetings? I am quite content at where I am."

"I'm sure. Do step out of line, Potter. I would so enjoy giving you a detention."

"Malfoy!" Hermione's voice came from behind him, and he raised a brow at her. "Do you believe that you're above everyone else that you didn't have to come to the meeting?"

"Of course," Draco sneered. It hardly mattered anyway, Severus had already told him the specifics before he came aboard. He wouldn't have been able to sit for the whole meeting. "I, unlike you - or anyone else for that matter - have known what I'm supposed to be doing before coming aboard."

_Leave. She's tainting the air we breathe._

"Look at that..." Fred grinned, brushing past Draco.

"... A little boy just starving..." George followed after his brother.

"... For attention." They both finished together, turning around to grin.

The Gryffindors laughed, and Draco glared at the two until they walked away with their arms linked and noses up in the air as if to imitate him.

Draco gave Harry a last smirk, "Watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be _dogging_ your footsteps in case you step out of line." And with that, Draco and Pansy continued on their way to their compartment, the blonde's thoughts once again on Theodore Nott.

* * *

Harry stayed where he was, by the sliding door. He ignored Hermione and Ron as they squeezed by him. That had to be the first conversation he had with the other bloke that was remotely civil. But, he had mentioned dogging, and Sirius had been on the platform.

The boy watched Malfoy disappear with Parkinson, the girl tittering away over something that was nonsense. Eyes narrowed and his mouth pressed into a thin line, Harry re-entered the compartment, closing the door behind him. He sat back in between Ginny and Luna. Ginny had a book in her lap, but she wasn't reading it, just looking over the top of it to stare at Harry - who didn't notice. Luna was still reading _The Quibbler_ upside down.

Neville sat on the opposite seat, his cactus in his lap. Ron sat beside Neville, and Hermione beside Ron. The bushy haired girl already had one of her class books out and was 'skimming' through it, muttering about what was new and what wasn't.

"Harry..." Ron's voice was low, and Harry looked over at his best mate. "You really aren't angry about not being a prefect?"

"'Course not. Why would I be? I wouldn't be able to..." he sent a glance over at Hermione who was reading intently, but then she looked up and smiled.

"Really, Harry. I'm not going to say anything about your adventures at night. You would do them anyway." She flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Besides, you know the rules and what happens if you get caught, including by me."

The two boys grinned at her, and Harry asked, "But what if you're with us?"

She sniffed, and went back to her book, "Then we wouldn't get caught at all."

Ron shook his head, "Blimey, Hermione, enjoy life."

"I do, it just happens. Rules aren't meant to be broken."

"But to be bent," Luna spoke up, her silver blue eyes watching them all. "There's always something new to find. You just need to know where to look."

"Loo- Luna, we aren't talking about new things!" Ron waved his arms around, making Harry and Hermione chuckle, "We're talking about fun things! Adventures!"

"Ronald, new things are adventures," Hermione giggled, not looking at the long haired girl with the magazine.

"Err... right..."

Harry laughed and continued talking, but his mind wasn't really on what was being spoken - even though what he had said about not wanting to be a prefect was true. There was no way that he wanted _more_ attention on him. He just wanted to be a kid. What he was really thinking about was Malfoy and what he said, and _how_ it was said.

He looked over at Hermione and wondered if it was something only he caught.

* * *

The rest of the trip passed slowly. Draco's back was still in pain, and Nott kept sending him glances that were all too knowing. If Draco didn't think that he was part of something, those doubts were gone. Theodore was up to something.

Blaise just sat and checked his homework from over the summer. Draco froze. Homework.

Reaching for his bag, Draco pulled out the list and nearly groaned. He wouldn't be getting any sleep if he had any hope of finishing all of it. And he couldn't even start on it here, or the others would bring it up. So he stashed it away and pulled out his diary - his diary with the brand new top.

Opening it, Draco saw he had two new notes, so he read his mothers first.

_Draco,_

_I know you probably won't get this message until after you arrived at school, but there are three things that I forgot to tell you before you left._

_The first is about the homework: you do not have to do Sev's because you've done it over the break. I contacted Filius to say you have been disposed for a while and were not able to complete it, so you have an extra week. I didn't want to push the others, but hopefully this helps a bit._

_The second is that you need to speak with Dumbledore before classes. He said to meet him at 7 in the morning. His office is on the third floor where the gargoyle is. He also told me to inform you that he likes Sherbert Lemons._

_Lastly, Draco, is about what I sent you last year and told you not to open. Tonight, when you are free, I want you to go to your room and open it. Whatever you do, you are not to put it on in any fashion, is this understood? I will be giving you more information later about it._

_Love you, Darling,_

_Mum_

The package was still in the Come and Go Room. Or it had been when Draco had last left. Wondering what it was, he read the other note that had just been scrawled.

_Blondie!_

_You need to be Pup more often! It was awesome getting all those stares! Why did you change?_ (The writing changes)

_Are you going to that brilliant room tonight? 'Cause if you are, we're gonna be there!_

_And what was up with earlier? You're not provoking the golden trio anymore. Well, ok, you are, but not obviously! We need our entertainment from them! They're hilarious when riled up!_

_P.S. We need to know when you're going to the room tonight. (We need to fix this!) Toodles!_

_G & F_

Draco bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from rolling his eyes. But he did grab his quill and began his letter back.

_Hellions,_

_I wanted to change, and you were conveniently there. That is all that is needed to be said._

_As to the 'Golden Trio', there is nothing to be said._

_You need to know? I did not realize that your lives are hanging on a limb._

_Draco_

Almost immediately they started writing back, so Draco dug out a potions book to look like he was taking notes.

_Blondie,_

_You wound us. You make it sound like we had a one night stand or something. o.- _(Draco had to guess that it was a winking face, he wasn't exactly sure.) _There is always something to be said about those three._

_We thought you knew, we made a Vow and we are going to use it to our advantage to spend time with you to unravel everything we know about you. It's already been interesting. What time, Blondie?_

_F & G_

Using a long, tapered finger, Draco traced down his book, and began to write, eyes flicking from his diary to the potions text.

_Hellions,_

_I believe that I am once again proven wrong when I had assumed you two had any brain cells working for you. I dislike repeating myself._

_I must have forgotten that you two never take anything seriously. After the opening feast._

_Draco_

He wasn't sure why he told them the time, but he did.

Their reply was instantaneous.

_Blondie,_

_We already know you said that you're not queer. _(Once again the handwriting changed)

_What's the point in being serious all the time? It's no fun. But this, Blondie, we're serious about. Why else do you think we've stuck around?_

_G & F_

Draco shut both his books and placed them back in his bag as the train rolled to a stop. He got to his feet and strolled out, looking for the lost souls that were first years.

* * *

He was sitting with the others, waiting for the sorting to begin. Finally, the doors opened and the first years walked forward, all huddling together. McGonagall - who had been in the front - set the stool and the battered old hat on top of the seat.

For a short while, there was only silence but then:

_In times of old when I was new_

_And Hogwarts barely started_

_The founders of our noble school_

_Thought never to be parted:_

_United by a common goal,_

_They had the selfsame yearning,_

_To make the world's best magic school_

_And pass along their learning._

_"Together we will build and teach"_

_The four good friends decided._

_And never did they dream that they_

_Might some day be divided._

_For were there such friends anywhere_

_As Slytherin and Gryffindor?_

_Unless it was the second pair_

_Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,_

_So how could it have gone so wrong?_

_How could such friendships fail?_

_Why, I was there, so I can tell_

_The whole sad, sorry tale._

_Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those_

_Whose ancestry's purest."_

_Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose_

_Intelligence is surest."_

_Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those_

_With brave deeds to their name."_

_Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot_

_And treat them just the same."_

_These differences caused little strife_

_When first they came to light._

_For each of the four founders had_

_A house in which they might_

_Take only those they wanted, so,_

_For instance, Slytherin_

_Took only pure-blood wizards_

_Of great cunning just like him._

_And only those of sharpest mind_

_Were taught by Ravenclaw_

_While the bravest and the boldest_

_Went to daring Gryffindor._

_Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest_

_and taught them all she knew,_

_Thus, the houses and their founders_

_Maintained friendships firm and true._

_So Hogwarts worked in harmony_

_for several happy years,_

_but then discord crept among us_

_feeding on our faults and fears._

_The Houses that, like pillars four_

_had once held up our school_

_now turned upon each other and_

_divided, sought to rule._

_And for a while it seemed the school_

_must meet an early end._

_what with dueling and with fighting_

_and the clash of friend on friend._

_And at last there came a morning_

_when old Slytherin departed_

_and though the fighting then died out_

_he left us quite downhearted._

_And never since the founders four_

_were whittled down to three_

_have the Houses been united_

_as they once were meant to be._

_And now the Sorting Hat is here_

_and you all know the score:_

_I sort you into Houses_

_because that is what I'm for._

_But this year I'll go further,_

_listen closely to my song:_

_though condemned I am to split you_

_still I worry that it's wrong,_

_Though I must fulfill my duty_

_and must quarter every year_

_still I wonder whether sorting_

_may not bring the end I fear._

_Oh, know the perils, read the signs,_

_the warning history shows,_

_for our Hogwarts is in danger_

_from external, deadly foes_

_And we must unite inside her_

_or we'll crumble from within_

_I have told you, I have warned you..._

_let the Sorting now begin._

Draco clapped slowly along with the others. Some weren't sure what to do and barely applauded at all. But eventually the scattered clapping stopped and Dumbledore spoke, with the new Defense teacher interrupting him to tell everyone - in hidden meanings - that the Ministry was now in Hogwarts and things were going to change.

But he wasn't paying attention to the woman like toad. He was still thinking of the hat's song.

Barely moving his head, he first stared at the twins - who grinned - and then switched his attention to the other three.

Unite from within wasn't going to be easy, but it started with Harry. Draco wasn't sure if it was at all possible, not with who were in Slytherin, but he also knew he couldn't just dismiss the hat's warnings.

However, he wasn't sure if he actually _wanted_ to talk to the other boy. Draco was content with keeping him alive without any notice falling on him. After all, who would ever think _he_ would try to protect the Boy-Who-Lived?

Finally excused, Draco stood and helped the other prefects take the first years to the common room. It took longer than necessary with the new Slytherin's asking questions quietly.

But they finally made it, and he was able to leave with the words, "Professor Snape will be down tomorrow morning to speak with us all. Be up and in the common room at six, unless you wish to deal with the consequences."

With that, Draco left, his mind on the Common Room, his main thoughts being, _bloody homework._

* * *

A/N End chapter 23! Hope you guys are enjoying this still - sorry that nothing _too_ exciting is going on yet. But just wait! There are lots of things that are still to happen and lots of twists and fun stuff like that. XD

It should pick up more in 25 with the exciting stuff... hopefully...

Also, college semester is done, so I can write more! YAY! I literally sat down today and wrote Ch. 26 in two hours. *does happy dance* Anywho, I hope to be updating soon!


	24. Either side

A/N You guys remember that parcel Draco got from the Owlery a while ago? You finally get to find out what it is. :) You should tell me if it's what you guys expected. I hope it wasn't too obvious...

* * *

Draco was glaring at the room, arms folded across his chest. It was back to being the cold room. That board lay plastered on the wall. Those words taunting him. The lone candle dripping wax from above.

That was it.

The table wasn't there. The hammock wasn't there. It was just bare and frigid.

He wasn't even sure what he was supposed to write on the Draco / Dray side of the board. He wasn't sure what was him and what was... _him_. The Malfoy voice was always there in the back of his mind. Always speaking in cool, mocking tones. Always pointing out the flaws, pointing out the 'correct' paths to choose.

_Stop deceiving our Lord. We can't hide forever. Protect ourselves._

"Wicked, we haven't..."

"... seen this room since..."

"... the first time we came in."

The twins appeared beside Draco. Before the blonde could so much as move, Fred had his chin on Draco's shoulder, hands in his pockets. George copied his brothers position, chuckling for no apparent reason.

"I believe I once told you to remove yourselves from -"

"Really, Blondie," Fred muttered, staying firmly in place. "We aren't moving."

"We're quite comfortable."

Draco took a step forward, the twins following easily. Huffing, the younger teen opted to ignore the other two and to focus on the wall.

"Malfoy must be who he portrays to everyone..." George murmured.

"... and the Draco / Dray is who you really are." Fred finished with a quick nod, making Draco send a glare over his shoulder. "The question is, though, why..."

"... pranking isn't on the Draco / Dray side. You did..."

"... change our hair to pink. It should..."

"... be on the board."

Silently thanking the hellions, Draco waved his wand and _prankster_ appeared under the words _like cookies_. After all, it was true. He had turned their hair pink, and he did do that whole thing to Pansy a few years ago when she was camped out on the couch.

The room apparently thought so too, as it changed back into the warm room. While the twins were occupied watching the change, Draco hurried to the desk and sat down, his homework in front of him. He pulled his Transfiguration book closer and began to write quickly.

Two pairs of hands reached out and took the quill and book away. Frowning, Draco turned to the twins and held out his hand. "Hand me my belongings. Now."

Fred plopped to the floor and sat the book in his lap, "Nah, we gotta talk about a few things."

George lowered himself slowly, placing the quill behind his ear. "Remember we told you that we have a few things to say to you?"

Draco's eye twitched, and he refrained from growling. "I recall that moment, yes." Vaguely. Very vaguely. He didn't linger on it. Soon afterwards was the pain, and he wanted nothing to do with that again.

He didn't want to remember his father.

His father who hadn't contacted him.

His stomach tightened, and he wanted nothing more than to change into Pup and sleep on the hammock. Then he would be free of everything. He wouldn't have to worry about fear, about death, about pain, about loss, about anything. He would just be. But he could never have that.

"You do remember that we made a vow, yes?"

The question interrupted his thoughts, and Draco quickly tuned back in, not knowing who it was that spoke. "I am aware, yes. Otherwise you would not be here."

George waved his hand, Draco's quill quivering where it stayed. "We want to know what you're hiding from the rest of the school."

With a smirk, Draco looked back at his diary and remembered the note from his mother. "There are many things that the school is not aware of."

Fred sighed, his fingers messing with the soft carpet. "Obviously, but they're not under the Unbreakable Vow."

"That is your fault for taking it, isn't it? I never promised to divulge anything to you. If I happened to, you won't be able to tell anyone."

Both the twins straightened, their faces wiped clean of amusement. "It has something to do with that wall."

Draco looked where Fred was pointing, "The door? What's special about the wall the door's on?"

George reached over and clamped his brother on the shoulder when Fred growled. The blonde repressed a smirk and got comfortable in his chair. Apparently George was taking over the conversation, "The one before that. The one with the different sides. What is so important that you have to pretend to be who you're not?"

Scoffing, Draco placed his hands in his lap. "You wouldn't be able to understand."

"Try us," the both snapped.

On the table appeared the parcel that he had yet to open. "Do I seem to be a person able to kill?"

"No," they answered immediately.

Fred finally regained his grin, "Maim, possibly."

Draco's mind took him back to the bathroom. Those long, ugly scars on his back. His flesh ruined. "No, I'm not," he murmured, hoping he spoke low enough not to be heard. The two didn't react, so he believed they hadn't been able to hear him.

Never before had he wanted desperately to not be a pawn. Not to be needed as a spy. He just wanted to be normal at least once.

He wanted to be able to do as he pleased, when he pleased. He wanted to be able to act how he wanted to. He just wanted to be Draco, not the son of Lucius Malfoy, loyal member of the Death Eater's.

It was never going to happen.

He shook his head and got back on track. "So do you believe that I'm part of the Death Eaters?"

The two looked at each other and breathed, "Of course. It's so obvious."

Finally giving in - as he always seemed to do around them - he rolled his eyes and reached for the wrapped object and decided to give the twins one more tidbit. "Do you remember when you two followed me to the Owlery?"

They both nodded and he held up the packet, and they both scooted closer.

With a smirk, he turned his back to them and opened the parcel, putting a piece of paper on his books, and blinked at the thing in it.

It was a locket. A locket with a serpentine S, covered in green gems. The shape easily reminded him of a snake. It was closed by golden hinges, and the background seemed to be almost see-through.

"Awesome," the twins whispered behind him, obviously forgetting what else they wanted to say. One hand reached out, but Draco smacked it away. The thing felt heavy in his hands, power emitting from it. In his head, he could hear Malfoy hum in excitement, so he placed it quickly on the table.

Finding the paper he had down, he quickly read the words scrawled on the parchment.

_Dangerous. Do not wear. Hide it away. This is all I can do. Learn how to destroy it. Horcrux_.

He saw the hand coming back to snatch the locket away, but he slapped at it. "Don't touch it."

"Why?" The both asked as Draco faced them.

"It's evil."

"Who's is it?"

"That information was not given," the blonde muttered unhappily, though he had a general idea, if he remembered what horcruxes were correctly. "Now, I will finish my homework in peace."

"We wanna learn Occlumency."

George's words made Draco blink rapidly. He cocked his head to the side and frowned. "Why?"

The two seemed to vibrate from excitement, "We wanna be unregistered Animaguses too!"

"Will you leave me alone if I give you the first step?"

"Yes!"

"Meditate. Clear your mind of everything. Do it every morning when you wake up, every afternoon, and every evening before bed." Quickly flicking his wand, Draco nodded at the time that appeared in front of him. "This will count as the one before you sleep. You must work at it for an hour. After a week, we'll see if you can do anything."

The two went to a corner, muttering to each other and gesturing. Draco shook his head as he began to work, his mind drifting away from the so called Horcrux. He knew a few things he had to do before he could focus on that.

The first was to finish his homework.

The second was to send a message to his mother asking if the necklace truly was a horcrux.

But at the moment, he was going to teach the hellions about Occlumency. They were most likely going to fail, but he would do it anyway if it gave him peace and quiet.

* * *

The ugly, stone gargoyle seemed to stare down Draco. He debated on waiting to see if the thing would talk, but decided to just give it the password and see if it would let him go up, "Sherbert Lemons."

The thing jumped to the side and showed a staircase that was already moving upwards. Moving quickly, Draco hopped on and waited until he stood in front of a wooden door, which he proceeded to knock on.

"Enter."

The quiet voice was barely heard, but Draco pushed open the door and entered the Headmaster's Office. The room was circular and was covered with windows, portraits, and books. Tables were scattered everywhere, standing on wobbly legs. All of them held delicate silver instruments that puffed out smoke and whirled around randomly. And there, in a corner, was a stand holding a bright red bird that stared right at him.

Dumbledore sat behind his oak desk, his half-moon spectacles in place and his fingers steepled under his chin. "Please, sit down, Draco. We have a few things we must discuss."

Draco inclined his head and walked towards the chair, but he didn't sit. His mind was whirring with different things. He didn't know if he trusted the man who sat in front of him. They had never talked, never seen each other besides at meals, and Draco's trust was limited.

His hands gripped the back of the chair, keeping it between himself and the headmaster. The desk wasn't enough for him. Though he did angle himself so he could see both the door and Dumbledore.

"What have your parents told you of me, Draco?"

There were many things he could tell the professor. He pondered for a moment. He wanted to tell the elder man that he had heard nothing.

"That they trust you," he answered clearly, his face carefully blank. "That they have worked for you."

"They don't work for me Draco," Dumbledore murmured, his blue eyes sparkling. Draco dropped his arms to his side, his fingers digging into his legs, carefully out of sight of the professor. "They are helping us save the world."

"Of course, Professor."

"It is your time to take a step forward and help us as well, Draco."

The boy gave a nod, very careful to keep his glare to himself. "I have been told that already, Professor."

"Have you been told what else is expected of you?"

"I tell you what the other Slytherin's speak of and if I meet with the Dark Lord again, I will tell you what transpires." Draco's voice was monotone as he felt the strap of his backpack slip a little bit, but he shrugged it back into position.

"Draco, his name is Voldemort. Calling him the Dark Lord gives him power over you."

"With all due respect, Professor, what I call him is my business and none of yours. If I call him the Dark Lord, then that's what I'll call him. I am here to simply give you information that will help your side of the war."

"It is also your side of the war, Draco."

Draco didn't answer to that, but simply asked, "What else do you need to tell me, Professor?"

"Did you hear the Sorting Hat's song?" When Draco didn't give an answer, Dumbledore continued, "We must start uniting the houses."

"What are you proposing? For me to become chummy with the other houses?"

"No. You will be the catalyst of it all. You will merge the other houses against you. They will join against you."

Draco's blood ran cold, but kept his outer self calm. "I see. That will work with only three houses. Unity stands for all four. Slytherin will not join the others against me."

"Are you so sure?" Dumbledore's voice was equally calm, equally quiet. "If you become closer to Voldemort, there will be some that will be envious of that and try to throw you off your throne." A small smile covered his face, clearly amused before it slipped off. "Others will follow their lead and perhaps get along with the other houses."

"I see." More things to give up, and Draco had to clench his hands into his palm so nothing would cross his face. His chest was constricted and it was hard to breath, but he forced himself to speak. "What is it that I must do?"

Dumbledore sighed, closing his eyes for a split second, "Boast, do anything in your power to drive them away."

"Very well, Professor. We will see how well this works."

"Draco, please believe me when I say that I wished you never had to do this."

"I have heard that more than enough, Professor. I have no desire to hear it from you as well. Anything else?"

Dumbledore nodded once, a pained look on his face, "Just one. Dolores Umbridge. I need eyes on her. Put yourself in a position that she trusts you."

"Of course."

Dumbledore looked as if he had more to say, but he gave a quiet sigh before saying, "That is all, Draco. You may leave. Please do not be late for class."

"Of course, Professor." Draco turned his back to the Professor, though it made the back of neck tingle. When he reached the door, he opened it, but before he left he muttered, "Professor, if it were my choice, I would not be on either side."

Before the headmaster had a chance to say anything, Draco closed the door behind him and left. When he was halfway down the stairs, he paused and pressed his forehead against the wall.

But then he took a deep breath and continued on his way. It looked like Blaise would play a bigger part in things than Draco had first planned.

* * *

Harry was hurrying towards History of Magic. He had left some of his things up in the dorms, so he was flying down a secret passage that led to the third floor before he would go up to the fourth.

It was faster than just going down the main staircase, as the stairs wouldn't move in a direction he didn't want. But as he was skidding onto the Grand Staircase, he saw Malfoy coming down, a glare firmly in place.

Opening his mouth to say something to the prat, Malfoy just stomped by him. Blinking a few times, Harry looked over his shoulder and was about to shout something, but his eyes were drawn downwards.

There, from Malfoy's palm, was blood dripping to the floor. But it didn't seem as if the blonde noticed.

When the other boy was out of sight, Harry remembered he needed to get to class. Pursing his lips, Harry decided he just needed to keep a closer eye on the Slytherin. He was probably up to something.

Running now, Harry raced up the stairs and into classroom 72. Sliding into the back next to Ron, he dumped his bag on the table and tried to even his breathing.

It took a few minutes to stop his heaving chest, but then he was able to grin at his best mate. "Got it!"

Professor Binns floated to the front and began to talk of the goblin wars. But Harry couldn't concentrate, more so than usual.

His mind was on Malfoy, and what would have caused him to have a bloody palm.


	25. Nosy Gryffindor twins

A/N Hey guys, I know it's been awhile and I said I would most likely be able to post more frequently now, but turns out I won't be able to be as frequent as I want to. Some things have come up and I'm trying to finish it quickly so I can get back to this. So here is chapter twenty-five, and I hope I can post another chapter next week. Anyway, hope you guys had a Merry Christmas. :)

* * *

"Honestly, Draco!" Pansy murmured, handing him some toast as she, Blaise, and Theodore exited the Great Hall just as he was about to head in. He took it and turned back around. Feeling a piece of paper, he slipped it into his pocket. "Draco! Why weren't you there for Professor Snape's lecture to the first years?" She spoke quietly, staying on his trail so the others wouldn't hear. "We _were_ made Prefects, Draco. We can't let him down."

"Parkinson," Draco's voice was cool and his tone clipped, "I have no desire to speak to you at the moment." His free hand was still clenched, and he could feel the blood dripping down his fingers, so he carefully kept it out of view of the others as he walked.

When he finished the toast, he brought out his wand, giving it a subtle flick. Seconds later, he could feel his palm drying. Carefully, he pried his fingers from his hand and entered the charms classroom.

Professor Flitwick was already standing on his chair and motioning around, his top hat swinging from side to side. The part goblin, part wizard looked over at the small group and said in his squeaky voice, "Quickly, quickly, get into pairs. Mr. Zabini and Mr. Malfoy. Miss. Parkinson and Mr. Nott. Quickly, quickly now."

Blaise and Draco hurried to a corner and faced each other, waiting for their professor to tell them what to do. As they stood there, Blaise cocked his head to the side, raising his eyebrows before casting a spell for them to hear others but not the other way around. "Did you receive my letter this summer?"

"I did. Perhaps we can speak of this outside of class," Draco replied as Flitwick announced they would review on summoning spells. "We can discuss things where we met last time."

Blaise raised his wand and nodded, pointing at Draco's bag, "_Accio book_." Three jumped from their places and towards Blaise, but the blonde simply waved his wand and they went back to him.

"Excellent!" The tiny professor bounced up and down as he came towards the duo. "Ten points to Slytherin!" Then he went off, giving points to Ravenclaw or Slytherin students who did well.

"If you try to touch my possessions again, Zabini, we will have a problem."

Blaise narrowed his eyes, "I believe we already have a problem."

Draco cocked his head to the side, egging the other boy on; he figured he might as well get started on Dumbledore's project and quickly cast off the spell keeping the others from hearing them. "Mmm, no need to be jealous you aren't as talented at magic as I am. You can't even perform minor charms without speaking." Hopefully the other boy would be quick and follow his lead.

Confusion flashed through Blaise's eyes before it was shut down, a smirk slowly crossing the Italian's features. "I have no need for jealousy." Blaise once again pointed his wand at the books and muttered, "_Accio books_."

Draco growled and forced them to return to him. Blaise had apparently caught on and was doing a very good job at getting Draco angry. "Do not make me repeat myself, Zabini."

"What's so special about those books, Malfoy? Hiding something?"

"Nothing to concern yourself over," Malfoy sneered, his wand pointing directly at the other boy. He had to pay for his disobedience. "I'm sure you're just _dying_ to learn something about my family in order to raise your minor social standings."

Blaise's eye twitched and he growled, "Do not bring my family into this."

"What family? Your mum, the whore?" Malfoy grinned as Blaise slashed the air with his wand even as a few Ravenclaws gasped. Blocking the jinx, Malfoy jeered, "Surely that isn't the best you can do."

As if proving a point, Malfoy sent a stinging hex towards the other boy, anger in the brown eyes almost tangible. It was a beautiful sight, and Malfoy couldn't get enough.

"Come, this is boring. If you want a duel, stop acting like it's a cat fight. It's unbecoming."

"That's enough!" Flitwick's voice came from the side, jarring Malfoy back into reality.

With a headache, Draco stumbled back when he was hit with a stinging curse and was thrown backwards into the wall. Stifling a cry as his back screamed at him, Draco carefully got to his feet.

"Mr. Zabini!" Flitwick's eyes were wide and surprise clearly etched on his face. Pansy's mouth was open and Draco wanted to curl into a tight ball at the shock that covered most of the students faces.

Never had he ever gone after one of his own.

But it hadn't been him. It hadn't. Draco stopped himself from gripping his hair, but Malfoy simply smirked and spoke his thoughts, _You wanted a fight. I gave you one._

Ignoring the looks at him, Draco argued with himself. _Not like that_.

_You chose this path, I'm showing you the repercussions. Chose the right path, and you gain more than loneliness and pain. Join our Lord._

_No..._

"Detention, Mr. Zabini, and thirty points from Slytherin for attacking another student. And Mr. Malfoy! That is no way for a prefect to act!"

Draco composed himself and straightened himself out. "Forgive me, Professor. I simply was stating the truth. I hadn't considered Zabini's reaction. I had no intentions of starting a fight." Even as he spoke, he figured out a way to join the Slytherins - or some of them - and other Houses. It would start in the next class.

"Yes, I suppose you hadn't." The bell rang, but the rest of class stood riveted to their spots. "Dismissed. Practice the summoning spells a bit and read the next chapter to make objects move to your will."

Draco glanced around and saw Pansy glaring at him before her whole body tensed and her eyes went glassy before returning to their usual bland stare.

"Draco, we have potions next."

How could he have been so blind? How couldn't he have noticed? It was so obvious, just staring at him from the very beginning.

It explained why she was always moody. Why she couldn't seem to choose between being with him or Blaise.

Someone had her under the Imperius Curse.

* * *

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Potter," Snape talked slowly, eyes glaring at the raven haired boy. "You will be partnered together. Perhaps Mr. Malfoy will be able to teach you something of potion making."

A few of the Slytherins chuckled, but it wasn't as loud as it usually was. Harry glanced over his shoulder and peeked over at the blonde, but Malfoy was staring straight ahead. His whole body was tense, but otherwise he looked as he normally usually did. There wasn't any hint of Malfoy's earlier palm injury, so what would have caused him to bleed?

"Mr. Potter, it is required that you move and not stare."

Harry felt a flush heat up his skin, but he quickly packed up his bags and trudged over to the Slytherin Prince. He nodded at the Gryffindors quiet condolences as he walked past them before slipping into the empty seat next to the blonde.

"Malfoy," he hissed.

Said boy glanced over at him, gave a nod, and turned back to the front. Harry couldn't help it, his mouth fell open. Luckily, though, most of the attention was back on Snape who was still assigning partners.

"Mr. Weasley, do not ruin Mr. Zabini's potions. Miss Granger, don't badger Miss Parkinson or you will find yourself with detention. Mr. Finnigan, since you are prone to exploding things, I will pair you with Mr. Nott who will keep you in check. Mr. Longbottom with Miss Bulstrode, perhaps _she_ can keep you in line."

The list went on, but Harry still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Malfoy had done nothing to mock him. He hadn't even bothered to state Harry's name.

Deciding not to push his luck, Harry pulled out his potions text, paper, quill and ink. He saw that Malfoy had pulled nothing out, instead opting to stare at nothing.

But then, those gray-blue eyes met his and a smirk covered Malfoy's face, "Potter, haven't you heard that staring is rude?" Platinum blonde hair fell to the side when Malfoy cocked his head, and Harry could see the bags under his eyes.

"You don't look too good, Malfoy. Something crawl up your ass?"

Something that looked like relief flashed through Malfoy's eyes before it was quickly reined in. But it couldn't have been. There would have been no reason for the prat to feel anything like relief. "At least I'm not the one with a disgusting mutt running after me. Honestly, it seemed to act more like a human than a dog. It was horrifying."

Harry's blood ran cold. Malfoy _must_ have known that Sirius was an animagus, or he he got lucky on both accounts. He had to get hold of his godfather and see if anyone on the Malfoy side of the family knew anything about that.

But he said that no one but James, Remus, and Pettigrew knew. And if Pettigrew knew, then the Dark Lord would know. And if the Dark Lord knew, then the Malfoys would know.

"Potter!" Malfoy's snappy voice had him tuning back in and blinking owlishly at the other boy. "Honestly, Potter, are you incapable of hearing?" The boy glared as he pointed to the board. "Go get the ingredients."

"Why should I go get it?"

"I can easily make you fail."

"What about you being a prefect?"

"Thank you for reminding me, Potter. Now go get the ingredients or I'll give you a detention."

With a huff, Harry pushed his chair back and stomped up to the cabinet. As soon as he got there, he met up with Ron and Hermione who threw him pitying glances. "Can he give me a detention for not getting the ingredients?"

"I'm sure he'll spin it some way to justify it," Ron mourned as he pulled out his own needed supplies. "I wish I had thought about it, though. I would have my own personal Slytherin slave for a whole period." He cast a look over his shoulder to see if any of the Slytherins heard his comment, but they were all too far away.

"Really, Ronald." Hermione rolled her eyes as she headed back to her desk. "Then he would have told Malfoy or Parkinson and they would make your whole day a bad one. Now _behave_!"

Harry smiled at the two before heading back to his desk by Malfoy, who seemed to be fidgeting just a tad. Narrowing his emerald eyes, Harry frowned at the boy, who caught the look.

"Potter, don't make me repeat myself about staring."

Sitting with an unnecessary thump, Harry plopped the supplies on the table and frowned at the board. He would have sworn that Snape wrote small so that he wouldn't be able to see.

"Start grinding the moonstone into a fine powder, Potter." Malfoy had already filled the cauldron with some sort of substance and was staring at it intently. The blonde boy had rolled his robes up his arms so it wouldn't get in the fire, and because his hair kept getting in his face, Malfoy had to constantly move his head around. "Grind, Potter, grind. One would think you would know how to handle that by now."

"You're helping."

"_I'm_ not helping, Potter. _You_ are a tool for me to use. I don't wish to fail because of your inadequacies."

"Draco," Parkinson's voice had Harry turning, but Malfoy's attention stayed intent on the brewing potion. The girl had a sneer on her face when Harry faced her.

"I won't repeat myself again, Potter. _Grind the Moonstone_."

Hastily turning back to his workspace, Harry started doing as he was told.

"Draco, are we -"

"Parkinson, I believe I already told you to not speak to me today."

Harry froze. Malfoy was in a spat with Parkinson? But Slytherins were _never_ in spats with each other. They were in arguments, but never to the point where they ignore each other completely. It was so... un-Slytherin like.

"Potter," the growled word had Harry hastily going back to his grinding. When he was finished, Malfoy scrutinized it before giving it a curt nod. But when Harry went to put it in the potion, a pale hand shot forward and grasped his wrist. "Not now, Potter! Do you not know how to read instructions? This is the Drought of Peace, not a Burn Healer."

With a sniff, the hand released his wrist and Harry dutifully put the moonstone back on the table. If he was going to at least pass the class, he might as well let Malfoy order him around - even if that meant grinding his teeth in the process.

"Do the same thing with the porcupine quills." Malfoy snatched the moonstone away from him, though his eyes never left the potion.

As Harry grinded, Malfoy slowly added the moonstone in. The black haired boy didn't mean to, but he blurted out, "What's so special about the timing?"

The blonde twitched, literally, but kept adding the ingredient in a little bit at a time. When it was fully in, he stirred it counter-clockwise three times, and then clockwise four times before lowering the flame temperature and staring at Harry.

"That is the most inane question I have been asked. Have you not been paying attention? Or do you really not know how to read?"

Harry felt his whole face flush before glaring at the quills as he smashed them.

"I believe they're finished." Draco used his wand and directed the bowl of powder in front of him. "Cut the Valerian root into quarters, all four of them." As Harry carefully got out his knife, he barely caught Malfoy's next words. "Timing is what keeps many potions nonlethal or in pristine condition. If you are off, the worth of the potion is decreased. Anyone who has eyes and ears know this."

He heard someone suck in a deep breath behind him, and Harry could only guess that it was Parkinson. But he wasn't paying attention to the girl behind him, he was too focused on the boy staring intently at the potion.

Even as Malfoy put in a tiny bit of the powdered porcupine quills, he muttered, "Quarters, Potter."

It took the whole class period, but by the end of class the two had a near perfect Draught of Peace potion. The only other team who had anything near as theirs was Hermione's and Parkinson's.

Though Harry didn't take any credit at all for himself. According to Malfoy, Harry would have ruined the potion if the blonde hadn't been there to stop him.

Snape must have agreed because he awarded Slytherin ten points for dealing with an 'imbecile'. When Snape turned to Malfoy, Harry saw the boy's whole body tense up and give a slight tremor.

The Slytherin moved his hands under the table, but Harry could see them clenching his robes, and by the time the potions master walked away, Malfoy had a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead.

Harry looked around and behind him as discreetly as possible, but no one seemed to notice the difference but him.

As they all got dismissed, Harry watched Malfoy stuff everything away before leaving in a dramatic way. When he joined his two friends, Harry decided then and there that he was going to keep a close watch on Malfoy, and figure out what the hell is happening to him.

* * *

As soon as he was out of sight of anyone, Draco put on his disillusionment spell and entered the first empty classroom he could find. When the door closed, he collapsed on the ground, moaning and clutching his head.

Sev had left no prisoners when he had entered his mind. In seconds all that he had strived to do had come crashing around him. His whole landscape was in tatters after his godfather's attack.

It felt as if his mind was on fire.

He curled up in a tight ball, closed his eyes, and tried to regulate his breathing. In, out, in, out. That's all he focused on. In, out, in, out.

It wasn't working.

With a groan, he rolled to his other side, hiding from the light that spilled into the room.

Grateful that he didn't have to worry about getting to the Study of Ancient Runes for the next hour, he was also perturbed that he would most likely miss lunch because of Sev.

But then, an idea for how to get his mind off the pain came up. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the paper Parkinson had handed him earlier that day. On the top was _Draco Malfoy_ in a script he didn't recognize. But when he opened it, it was all too familiar.

_Brat,_

_It might be easier to get along if you're not acting like you have a stick up your arse. Maybe act like a kid and talk about school._

_Failing any classes?_

_S_

He rolled his eyes before curling his arms around his legs. That stupid mutt was rude and obnoxious. If he was honest with himself, he would even admit he found the man slightly amusing.

He had an hour, and he couldn't find the energy to be hungry and go to lunch. So he stayed curled up and tried to get the pain in his head to stop.

* * *

_Thank Merlin_.

It was after class and Draco was in the Come and Go Room. Thankfully, the room hadn't been the cold one. Instead, on the desk in the middle of the room, there was a vile of headache relief.

He went straight towards it and gulped it down. The headache had followed him everywhere that day. As the pain finally started to fade, Draco sighed and rubbed his forehead, speaking out loud, "Alright, come out."

Blaise appeared beside him, a large frown in place. "I hope you have a purpose for what you did in Charms today."

"Yes, I'll explain in a moment. I need to see if the hellions are here or not."

"Present!" Both came into sight with their arms high in the air. They had grins on their faces as they stared between the other two boys. "What happened in Charms?"

"I believe he called my mother a whore."

"He what?" The two looked at the blonde.

"You haven't been that..." George started.

"... What's the word we're..." Fred sighed.

"... Looking for? Vocal?"

"... Close enough. You haven't been..."

"... That vocal against anyone except..."

"... Maybe us Gryffindors."

Draco pursed his lips before smoothing down his facial features. "There is a reason I did what I did. I'll get to that in a moment. Ask your questions, Zabini."

"Why were you acting strangely last year?"

Draco raised a pale eyebrow, "You'll need to be more specific."

Blaise glared at the blonde and nearly bit out, "You acted differently than you had in the previous years."

"I'm not allowed to change over the years?" The words came out harsher than he intended, and Draco closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "I never changed."

Blaise didn't reply, just crossed his arms and waited.

"Blondie, stop playing with him." Fred walked forward and dropped his head on Draco's right shoulder.

"It's no laughing matter." George mirrored his brother's pose, though his smile betrayed his words.

"The only way to get your attention was being obviously different. However, it took longer than I imagined." Draco smirked at Blaise's deepened frown. "First off, what is your stance on the war?"

Blaise shook his head, a tiny sneer in place, "You don't honestly think I'll tell _you_ anything without having you under the Unbreakable Vow?"

Draco smirked, "Well, if you don't tell me I can easily pass on the information that you are working for Dumbledore to the Dark Lord." A sharp pinch from one of the twins had Draco fighting the urge to elbow them both. "Very well, we'll make an Unbreakable Vow that I will not tell anyone of what you tell me in this room - except for the Hellions - until you release me from the Vow."

"That is acceptable."

Shrugging off the Weasley's, Draco and Blaise quickly did the vow with George acting as the Bonder. It was over quickly, and the blonde repressed a shudder as the magic seeped into his blood to lie dormant.

Instead, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Now, affiliation."

"Neutral. My family has never been on a side of the war."

"What are your views on house unity?"

"This time I will receive answers, not the other way around."

The twins went back to their positions on Draco, who tried to jolt them off, but they just kept going back. "He's right, you know."

"If he answers the bloody questions he'll get his own!" He snapped, finally letting his anger rise. Cool, blue eyes latched onto deep, brown ones. "Answer the question, Zabini."

"You called my mother a whore. I don't think I will."

"Then you will get nothing and you made the vow for naught."

Blaise face twitched, and Draco feared that he had pushed the boy too far. But then the Italian boy spoke, "I have nothing against it."

Draco felt himself sag in relief before he simply plopped onto the ground. The twins looked down at him, but then they shrugged and sat down beside him and put their heads back where they were before.

"Get off me."

"No. Don't you..."

"... remember what we..."

"... said earlier? We like..."

"... hugs and touchy-feely..."

"... stuff, so you're stuck with us..."

"... doing this."

He had no idea who was talking when, so he massaged his head and looked back at Blaise. "Good. Alright, whatever is going to be said and what has already been said is not important, so it shall not be repeated."

The two on him patted his head, and he tried to swat them away, but that just ended with the twins laughing in his ears. Blaise gave a minute nod.

"I am the son of a Death Eater, but I have no desire to go down that path. So I'm a double agent for Dumbledore." Draco's eyes narrowed even as his eyebrow twitched in irritation at the man's name. "One of my goals is to start house unity."

The twins snorted as Blaise laughed, "You're doing a good job of it."

"It's a start."

Blaise sobered quickly. "No, it's not going to work. So far you've only caused anger and issues."

"Ah, Blondie," the twins sighed, hiding their snickers as best as they could and failing horribly at it.

"That's the whole point. I'm going to be the reason why the houses unite. I'll turn Slytherin against me and use the other houses to overthrow me. Or at least that's what Dumbledore's plan is."

"What?" The twins jerked back and yanked Draco around to face them. "He can't do that!"

Draco raised a pale brow, "Really now?"

"Everyone will hate you."

"They already do." Draco waved a hand to stop their badgering before turning back to Blaise. "You'll be playing a role in uniting the houses."

"And I'll be doing that how?"

"You'll be the one to suggest using the other houses and eventually befriending them." He pointed over his shoulder to the two behind him, "You can start with the hellions."

"What's in it for me?"

"You'll be known for uniting the houses, and 'dethroning' me, as Dumbledore put it. It'll also be a way to get back at me for the 'whore' comment."

Blaise nodded, and pondered on it, "I'll think on it."

That would have to suffice for the moment. "Does that answer most of your questions?"

"Why were you trying to get me specifically to follow you?"

"A gift from my mother tells me who is trustworthy."

Blaise gave a nod. "That is more than adequate for the moment."

"I thought so. However, there is another thing you must know. Parkinson is under the Imperius Curse. Maybe you could work her off of that."

"We'll see." Blaise turned and left the room, leaving Draco alone with the hellions.

"Work on meditating. Hopefully you've been practicing."

The two nodded before scampering to a corner and Draco worked on his reply to Sirius. He stared at the blank paper, wondering what to write, so he wrote whatever came to mind.

_Mutt,_

_You want me to be like you and speak of things such as: my time at Hogwarts is rotten, and I can't stand having to lie to everyone._

That wouldn't do. Draco crumpled the paper and set it on the table to begin again.

_Mutt,_

_You wish me to talk like you or your godson? I shudder at the thought. I have not been raised to act according to your ways. I shall continue to be as I am, and you will have to suffer while I find amusement._

_Maybe you would like to share your thoughts of why you were on King's Cross in clear view of known Death Eaters who, by now, know of your animagus form because of Pettigrew. I know because of what I was told happened at the first meeting._

_Try not to be caught, though I figure that might be too much to ask._

_D_

"What's this?" Hands passed Draco's line of vision, heading for the crumpled paper. Draco smacked them both away and set the paper on fire. Blasted, nosey Gryffindor twins.


	26. Temper, Temper Granger

A/N Ok, I was lazy and I didn't reread this again - though it has been read and fixed once again by AJ Freas. :) So here's chapter 26, hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Draco had woken earlier than any of the other Slytherin's. He had no desire to deal with their idiocies so early in the morning. He was leaving the common room when he heard the sounds of movement from his dorm room.

For the past few days, his main focus had been on his landscape and perfecting it. It didn't matter where he meet Severus, his godfather would jump into his mind and tear all his defenses down, leaving him with a blinding headache. The boy would have to stand or sit still as if nothing was happening, as if his mind wasn't being raped.

Even after a few days of this, he had been getting better at leaving everything in place, but he thought that wasn't the purpose of what Sev was trying to do. But the boy wasn't sure what Sev was trying to do.

So when he got to the doors of the Great Hall, Draco double checked his landscape before pushing the doors open. There was Sev, sitting in his spot with his eyes locked on the younger wizard. Draco kept walking, but his shoulders were tense. But nothing happened.

He sat in a seat and looked around. The room was empty, with the exceptions of a few Ravenclaws and fewer Hufflepuffs.

Two owls swooped down in front of Draco, apparently waiting for him to arrive. One was a tiny thing with matted feathers and the other was a magnificent eagle owl, its head cocked to the side. They both held out their legs dutifully and Draco carefully untied their letters.

The smaller was first, as it wasn't able to stand completely still. It hopped every now and then to keep its stance, and when Draco was finished, it nipped a piece of bacon off a random plate and flew off.

Thankfully, the eagle owl was calmer and waited patiently until Draco took off the letter and gave it a piece of bacon as well. The eagle owl fluffed its wings before jumping into the air and flying off.

Opening the first letter, Draco frowned.

_Brat,_

_I don't want you talking like him. That would just be weird and creepy. There isn't much that'll make me suffer, kid._

_Psh, I was with my godson. He deserved to have a good send off to school. Yes yes, I know Death Eaters know my animagus form. I'm just waiting for the minister to find out and announce it before doing anything. Really, nothing bad will happen. I'm a black dog. There are thousands of black dogs._

_Don't you worry your pretty little head, though I doubt you worry about anything._

_You know, I could take that last line as caring. What a strange thought._

_S_

Of course he cared and worried about things. His concern for Sirius was because he would then lose a form of trivial arguing that he found amusing to look back on. Deciding to reply to the letter later - seeing as the blasted bird flew away before he could - he opened the next letter, taking a sip from his pumpkin juice.

_Draco,_

_I just wanted to thank you. Hermione came to visit over the summer. I never thought she would actually accept. We spent hours in my library talking about everything we could find. She's an amazing girl, and I wouldn't have had her visit if it weren't for you._

_Thank you, and I don't understand how she could hate you so much. You're a kind heart, even if you don't like to show it._

_Viktor Krum_

Kind heart, that was one he had never heard of before. Draco pondered the note as the Slytherins came in, Blaise in the lead, bickering with Theo who was right behind him.

Blaise strode past him, not bothering to even look at him. Pansy meant to sit next to him, but Blaise gently grabbed her arm and nudged her to a seat farther away from the blonde. "Parkinson, there are some matters that I wish to discuss with you."

"Alright." Pansy followed him until they were near the opposite end of the table. Even though he was in the very middle and the spots were being filled, Draco had never felt more alone. No one in his year sat directly next to him. It was the older students who nodded to him and went on to ignore him.

He simply raised his chin higher and let his gaze wander to the head table. There Umbridge sat, her sharp, brown eyes locking with his. He gave an incline of his head to her, and a smile stretched across her lips. Then he glanced over at Sev, and it was all over.

A rush of power, and Sev was in his head. Draco kept his body still, biting the inside of his cheek until he bled. He focused all his energy on his lake, letting everything fall except for those memories. Those his godfather would not touch again.

Seconds later the pressure was off, and Draco almost sagged in relief. Severus wouldn't be able to hold it longer than half a minute, or it would look odd to others. Still, it was easier than it had been the first time, and the time in Potions.

Draco reached toward some food, his fingers shaking. He grabbed a piece of toast, only able to stomach half of it. After he ate a little, he got to his feet and sent a glare toward Blaise, who just smirked.

So he sent him a sneer and turned on his heel as he left the hall.

He didn't even notice passing the twins with Jordan. He merely walked through the little group, the hellions having to jump on either side to avoid being run into. He didn't hear Jordan's laughter. He didn't see them send small frowns at him.

He just wanted to relieve the pain. His head felt like exploding, and his back seemed to feed off that. If he had been able to think, he would have wondered if that was something that Sev had failed to mention before.

Finally getting to an alcove, Draco put on a disillusionment charm and silencing charm. He finally let his breathing go ragged; Draco stumbled to the Come and Go Room. He didn't even see where he was going. He couldn't tell if he ran into anyone. His vision was hazy, and it was all he could do to not fall.

He didn't even realize he made it to the Come and Go Room. He didn't even remember falling onto the pillows beneath the hammock and curling into a ball.

He didn't know how long he was in there.

The next thing he could remember clearly was the door being wrenched open, and all he could think was, _Please be them._

"Blondie!"

"Thank... Merlin," he breathed. He wouldn't be alone again. The pain was just beginning to ebb, and he was slowly getting his vision back.

"What happened?"

"Don't... know. Get my... diary." It was an effort to talk, but he wanted answers, and he was going to get them.

"No, we have to get you help."

"No!" Draco's voice rose, the shock making his body shudder. "No," he whispered again. "Can't. Would ruin... everything if you... did." Forcing himself up, Draco took in a sharp breath. "Give me my journal. I need... answers."

George got up and did as he said as Fred blinked, "You don't know what's happening?"

"If I did, would I be sitting here in pain?" He snapped, closing his eyes for a brief second. When he felt his journal and quill being pressed into his hand, he opened it and quickly began to write.

_Mum,_

_Did Severus forget to mention anything about _that_ night? I'm in extreme pain lately, especially if I was put into a position of being hurt. I don't know what's going on. Tell me. Please._

_How many Horcruxes does he have?_

_Draco_

Barely at the end did he remember to ask what he'd been avoiding, but he threw it in and snapped the book closed.

"Now what? What happened, Blondie?"

Draco didn't want to hear the twenty questions, so he squeezed his eyes and focused on Pup. The change was quick, but his body changing made a sharp bark of pain leave him. But then he was tiny again and he felt nothing.

Exhausted, Pup curled into a tight ball, mewling softly with his ears lying flat on his head.

The two bent down, George picking him up gently. "You know, it would be just easier if you acted how you wanted to. You need to stop being who you're not. It's not healthy."

Pup just curled up tighter in his palms and hid his head with his tail.

"Well!" Fred proclaimed, "We need to go to the Tower. We left Lee, and we left him confused. We need a proper excuse..."

"... And what better one than we found you?" George finished, heading out the door.

Pup didn't even bother to acknowledge that, just closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of George's gait. He could tell the difference between the two that way. He could always tell them apart without the necklaces when he was Pup.

George's gait was fluid and soft while Fred's was more erratic and uneven. George smelled of ginger while Fred smelled of pumpkin. George's voice was soft while Fred's was commanding.

Loud noise erupted, and Pup dug his head into George's palm.

"Is that?"

"It is!"

"Why can't I ever find him?"

"He's so cute!"

"How come you guys get him?"

"Can I hold him?"

George chuckled, making Pup's tiny body move up and down gently. "Calm down. Oi, Hermione, is Crookshanks here?"

Pup moved his tail to uncover one eye and saw the bushy hair girl look over at them before nodding. "He's under the table." She bent down and picked up the large cat, squishing him to her chest. "Why?"

George moved forward, but it was Fred who spoke. "We thought it'd be cute if they got to see each other again."

She stared at the fox before giving a small smile and set her cat down, "He looks like he needs friends."

He was being set on the ground, and he quickly eyed the area. Happily he found that there were no birds there, and he trotted over to the huge, squash faced cat who licked his head with a small purr.

Pup gave a tiny bark, his large ears standing straight up. The cat lumbered over to the fire with Pup on his heels, and they both laid in front of the flames. Pup's body was surrounded by orange fur, and, for a while, he could forget that he was Draco.

* * *

Harry sat on his bed, staring intently on his bed Sunday evening, glaring at the parchment in front of him. Moments ago, the dot that was labelled _Draco Malfoy_ disappeared - again - somewhere on the seventh floor.

But Harry went down that area, and there was _nothing_ there. No secret passages. No matter how many different times he checked the hallway, nothing new happened. All that was there was a painting of a crazy man trying to teach trolls how to dance! Which was insane in itself.

Huffing, Harry jumped off his bed and stormed down the stairs and into the common room where Hermione was reading with Ron who pretended to do homework beside her.

"Look! Malfoy disappeared again! We have to do _something_! He's up to no good, I'd wager on it!"

"Harry, nothing has happened yet. It hasn't even been a month. What could he possibly be doing?" Hermione asked.

"I dunno, maybe something with Voldemort?" He didn't pause when Ron and Hermione flinched. He paced in front of the room, ignoring everyone else who was in the room. He kept his voice down so the third years wouldn't hear him. "His family are dark wizards. It only makes sense that he's on that side. You must have seen how odd he has been lately."

"Him being absent minded and starting fights aren't new things." Hermione closed her book with a sigh and looked up at her friend. "Until we have concrete answers on things, Harry, we can't do anything. Especially Ron and I as we're prefects now."

"Ron?"

Ron's eyes twitched. "Y'know I want to get Malfoy, the git. But what are we supposed to do, mate? As you say, he keeps disappearing to who knows where and you can't figure out where he's going."

Hermione sent a glare at the redhead, who cringed back a bit.

"Are you with me?" Hermione shot a glance at Harry at that, and failed to notice Ron's tiny nod.

When she looked back at the Weasley, he shook his head and said, "Can't, mate. I would love to, but I have to make sure Hermione doesn't start yelling at me about responsibilities again."

"I do not yell!" With Hermione's attention on Ron, Harry grinned at his friend.

"Of course." Harry turned his back and went to the stairs. "Thanks a bunch, guys." Before he could go upstairs, he caught sight of Fred and George, so he hurried over there. "Hey, I have a question for you."

"Sure...

"... What can we do..."

"... For the mighty..."

"... Harry Potter?"

The two threw their arms over him and grinned at the younger boy. "Have you ever seen anyone disappear on the map before?"

The two froze a second before glancing at each other. "It's happened once or twice. We never could figure it out though."

One released Harry and tapped his finger to his mouth, "It's been bugging us for ages. It's always in the same area, too."

Harry deflated, "So you guys haven't been able to figure it out."

"Nope!" The two grinned at him. "But we will, though. Who keeps disappearing?"

"Malfoy. He's up to something. I know it. Will you guys keep an eye on him for me? I don't want to be the only one watching him. I want to know what he's up to."

"'course." They chorused.

"Thanks." Harry gave them a small smile and went back upstairs to go back to studying the map.

* * *

Draco sat in front of the lake, his diary in his lap. His fingers were tracing the words his mother wrote.

_Draco,_

_The reason why Severus didn't say anything was because he wasn't sure. He didn't want you to worry about something that might not be there. However, seeing what you wrote I don't think he was wrong, no matter how much we wanted him to be._

_Before he left, your father gave you something. Something that Sev or I weren't able to see. I'm hoping he did it because the Dark Lord asked him to. Anyway, after he gave you the potion, your father threw the vial on the ground and helped Sev get you back to his place. Before I was dragged away, I was able to accio the potion vial to me. Then I was able to get it to Severus, in case your father clammed up like he did._

_Once Severus had the vial, he did some tests on the residual potion found clinging to the glass. There wasn't much to go off of, but there was enough to come close._

_What he believes was given to you was something without a name. All that's known is the effects it has on someone. It takes your most recent injury, and every time you are hurt it will reawaken the pains you had._

_He believes it will only be the pain your father did... the... lashings that he gave you. There is a cure, but it takes a year to make, if done correctly, and Severus has been working on it in the chance that what we feared was true._

_Now, the horcruxes. I'm not sure, Darling, how many there are. He's a very evil man, so we can only assume that he made as many as humanly possible: seven. We know of only two: the locket that you have and the diary that was ruined in your second year. I know you don't know anything about that, but one was at least destroyed._

_The other five we don't know what they are._

_Darling, don't put too much stress on yourself._

_Love,_

_Mum_

Seven. The man had split his soul that many times. Draco shivered, bringing his cloak tighter around him even though it wasn't that cold.

How could anyone to go through that?

"So, I hear..."

"... That you've been..."

"... Disappearing lately. Why..."

"... Is that?"

Draco angled his head so he could see the twins standing above him with identical grins on their faces.

"I'm quite skilled at vanishing into thin air." Draco rose to his feet, feeling awkward sitting while they stood. "Whose claiming I'm a ghost?"

"Ahh, Harry keeps seeing you mist off into nowhere on the seventh floor."

"Seems kinda strange to us," George grinned while Fred draped his arm over his brother's shoulders.

"I suppose it does." Draco sneered at them, his hands on his hips while some Hufflepuffs paused in their walk to watch. "I have no concern for you Gryffindors." He was about to walk away, but he couldn't stop himself. He turned around and asked, "What did you do to your hair? It's ugly." Their once perfect, auburn hair was singed. Pieces shorter than other and soot mixed in.

"Experiment gone wrong," George shrugged.

"We're experimenting on ourselves," Fred finished.

"Well that's idiotically Gryffindor of you. If you were in Slytherin, you would have asked for volunteers, giving them free samples of what's to come. I've heard rumors of your joke shop." He waved his hand. "Perhaps no one is interested. This conversation is droll."

With that, he turned and went to another portion of the bank where he could sit in peace, ignoring the grinning idiots behind him.

As he sits, something came hurtling out of the bushes and plopped on his lap. Draco looked down in surprise at Crookshanks who purred contentedly.

"I suppose it's only fair," he murmured. Raising a single finger, he began to stroke down the cat's spine. "You know, I never did express my gratitude towards you."

Draco scratched behind one of Crookshanks ear before continuing on with his petting.

"If you hadn't jumped forward, I would have been bird food. Not that I would ever mention that to the hellions, of course." He gave a small smile to the cat who looked up at him with wide, unblinking eyes. "You are a brilliant cat."

His voice, no more than a whisper, was interrupted by a screech of, "What are you doing to him?"

Draco turned his head to find Hermione running towards him, wand out, and red faced.

"If you so much as hurt him, I'll -"

"Temper, temper, Granger." Undeterred, Draco continued to pet Crookshanks who was still curled up in his lap. "He jumped on me, and, willingly, I am petting him. No crime is being partaken."

"But, he wouldn't -"

"He wouldn't?" Draco rose to his feet again, cradling Crookshanks carefully in his arms. He smiled fondly down at the cat, uncaring if she caught it or not, before depositing him gently into her arms. "You own one thing that is precious, Granger. Don't lose him."

With that, Draco turned and left the girl speechless behind him.


	27. Judged by a Fox

A/N The DA is being formed sooner than in the book b/c I need it to. I just thought I would point that out here. :) That is all.

* * *

Sev sat behind his desk, his obsidian eyes hidden by his greasy black hair. His voice, low and deep, seemed to echo around the room. "Update."

Draco stood, his fingers itching to play with his sleeves, in front of his godfather's desk. He was biting the inside of his cheek to stop from just blurting out what he wanted to say. Instead, he took a steadying breath before going on, "Potter is up to something. He's been following me closely, so I believe he thinks I'm up to no good. That will work in our favor. I have also come up with a plan. If I can get him to trust me completely, I can learn new things about what's going on than you could just spying on the Order of the Phoenix."

The words were difficult to push out, but if Severus ever had to show a memory of this to the Dark Lord, then it would be better if it wasn't altered at all. So he straightened up and crossed his arms in front of his chest, "After all, there isn't much that has been said to you, seeing as you have told Father and Mother about the Order not trusting you."

Severus raised his head, his eye twitched. "I shall pass on your... idea to him."

Malfoy nodded, a smirk in place. "You don't like that fact, do you, Sev? Of the possibility of me becoming a more... adapt spy than you can."

"You do not hold the trust of Dumbledore."

Waving a hand, Malfoy walked to the chair that sat in front of Severus's desk, plopping down on it and threw his legs over the arm. "It is not a difficult feat to gain that fools trust. We both know that he'd believe a toad if it sang the right tune." He held up a finger and forced his voice to go higher, "I didn't _want_ to join, sir. I just want to be on the right side, but I don't want to lose my family. What can I do?" Dropping his hand into his lap, he huffed in disgust. "Really, I'm surprised he's managed to live as long as he has."

"That is enough."

"I mean, he must have some horcruxes of his own. How else has he not been killed?"

"I said that's enough!"

Malfoy raised his eyes to meet Severus's, a malicious grin in place. "Struck a nerve, have I?"

"You have said more than necessary."

"No, I haven't." Malfoy sat up, his feet thumping to the floor. "I'm just saying things you're too afraid to hear." Standing, the blonde aristocrat strode forward, slapping his hands on the desk. "You aren't getting enough information, for either side. The Dark Lord seems appeased with what you have, but for how long? With the old man, there is never much to tell. The Dark Lord will never tell you more than what you need to hear. Which will never be enough to give to the 'light side'."

"Where is my godson?"

"Not in at the moment." Malfoy smirked at the elder man, pushing away from the desk and shifting his weight. "Do you realize just how pathetic he is?"

The anger that flooded into Severus's eyes was like an intoxicating drug. The emotional anger displayed by him overshadowed everything else in the room. The man's features tightened, his lips thinned, his already pasty skin grew sicklier. But as soon as the anger came, a shutter fell and hid everything. Malfoy wanted more of that anger, more of those dark emotions; he hungered for it.

"Come on, Sevvy, you were with him this summer. Doing everything he can to protect his _family_. And what good came out of it? His father won't speak to him and his mother is too afraid to do anything. You can't even look him in the eyes except to jump into his mind and tear everything apart. He has _no one _left. Well, except me." Here Malfoy paused, bringing a tapered finger to his lip. A slow, malevolent grin spread across his face. "And those twins. But I can change that."

Severus's eye spasmed again.

So Malfoy dug deeper. "Do you know what is keeping your godson sane? What's keeping him all knit together? What's keeping me from having complete control? Those two idiotic bums. And soon he'll have Zabini as well. I can remedy that in one fell swoop. Wanna know how, Sevvy?"

"I'm sure you'll tell me."

"How right you are." Malfoy's eyes were gleaming, more silver than gray. Severus wouldn't do anything to him. It was, after all, his godson's body. "I'll kiss one of those hellions, as he calls them. He doesn't understand it, yet. He's come to depend on them too much. It's almost to the point that he won't know how to survive without them. If I kiss one of them, in front of Zabini, the Italian boy with be disgusted and leave. The twins will be ecstatic, or at least one will be. They both want him, but poor Draco won't know what to do. He'll push them away in confusion and all that he'll have left is me."

Severus stood and rounded the desk, staring at the boy. Malfoy just smirked and put his hands on his hips.

When the potions master took out his wand, Malfoy sneered, "Going to curse me? It won't hurt me at all. It'll all rebound onto your pathetic godson."

_SMACK!_

"Sev?" Draco grabbed his cheek, staring at his godfather in surprise. "How'd you get there? And why did you slap me?"

"You don't remember anything?"

"We were just talking of the Order, but I don't remember you standing up. When did you do that?"

"Your mask decided it wanted a turn."

Well, that was shit. Draco frowned, "Great. What did he say?"

"He talked about splitting you from the twins and Zabini." Draco found himself staring at Sev's eyes for the first, extended amount of time. "He was - or still is - planning on kissing one of the twins to split you from them. Have you mentioned the mask to them?"

Draco paused, rubbing his forehead. "Not in detail."

"Be sure you do." Severus went back around his desk and sat. "That is all."

Draco nodded and left the room, pulling out his diary to send a note to the hellions, but he found an entry already there.

_Blondie!_

_Meet us at the C&GR. Bring Zabini. We have a brilliant idea - like most of our ideas are!_

_P.S. (We've almost fixed this, by the way) We'll be there at a quarter to three. You better be there!_

_F & G_

Draco rolled up his sleeve to stare at his watch and found it half past two. So he dug into his bag and, after finding a scrap of paper and quill, scribbled a note to Blaise and sent it to the other boy with a flick of his wand.

Hurrying up the stairs, he got up to the Come and Go Room and found - after pacing three times, thinking about the twins - a door waiting him. He opened it and found the other three already there.

"Well? I hope this is important?"

"It is!" Fred loped forward, grabbed him by the arm and drug him in, the door closed behind the blonde with a thump. "We found a way to get Blaise involved with the Gryffindors!"

"Oh, really?" Draco pulled away from Fred and stepped a few feet away, wary about being too close. "And you propose to do this, how?"

"Well, first, we need Dobby to tell Harry about this place and then -"

"No!"

Draco blinked, surprised at himself. He hadn't meant to blurt that out, and by the shocked expressions on the other three faces, they hadn't either. He frowned, but offered no other explanation. It was _his_ place. His place of safety. He was not going to just hand it over.

"It's to teach people about defense, and using it. Not the rubbish that toad is forcing us to take. It's been, what, two, maybe three weeks since she's been here and we've learned _nothing_. Plus it's the only way to get Blaise to join."

"Who said anything about joining?"

"You said you'd think about it!" George stepped in, crossing his arms over his chest.

Blaise waved a hand, a smirk in place, "That would make it too easy on you."

Fred frowned, but continued, "Look, it's for anyone wanting to learn about _real _Defense. It'll be to your advantage, as you won't be so behind after the toad leaves."

Blaise thought for a moment before finally giving a stilted nod. "That might be acceptable."

"Now, about getting Dobby -"

"I already said no. They can go somewhere else."

"They can't." The twins sighed before George snapped a finger.

"Got the best idea! Just turn into -"

"Hold on!" Draco turned to Blaise, "What is about to be said by that idiot will never be repeated or spoke of in any fashion after this moment. It is too important to be spoken about without thought."

When Blaise gave a nod, Draco motioned for George to continue. "Just turn into Pup and you'll be there for the whole time."

Draco's first thought was to say no, but after a second he relented. He looked around the room, not wanting to share it with any others - even if it wouldn't be the same as _his_ room. But it was _his_. It's what kept him going, to have somewhere to be himself - at least more than normal.

He took in a deep breath and said, quietly, "Dobby."

* * *

"I can't believe I agreed to this." Harry was pacing around the room, tugging on a lock of black hair. "I mean, I can't _teach_. I'm no professor. What if I mess up? What if I do something wrong? I can't do something wrong!" He paused, staring wide eyed at Hermione who was sitting on a pile of cushions reading _Jinxes for the Jinxed. _"What if no one comes?"

Hermione sighed, staring at her agitated friend. "Harry, stop worrying. They'll come. You know what you're going to do for your first lesson anyway. Stop worrying about it."

And she went back to reading, but he didn't stop. He continued to pace, continued to gnaw on his lip, continued to yank on his hair.

"Harry, stop acting like a girl." Ron's voice snapped him back into place.

"Excuse me?" Hermione's voice was spoken quietly, her honey brown eyes lifting slowly from her book. "I think I must have heard you incorrectly, Ronald Weasley. I think you accused Harry of acting like a girl."

"Well, he is." Ron furrowed his brows. "He's worrying about it for no reason, like you do about homework when you know it's right."

She sputtered, and Harry thought she was debating about throwing the book at the redhead's head. But before she could act on her thoughts, a soft knock was heard.

"Bugger." Harry looked at Hermione pleadingly. With a soft sigh, she snapped her book closed and walked over to open the door. Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati, and Dean had walked in, starring with huge eyes at the room.

"Whoa," Dean muttered, walking around the space. "What is this place?" He plopped onto the floor next to a cushion and poked it, "It's squishy."

Taking a deep breath, Harry was about to launch into an explanation about the room, but the door opened and another group of students walked in, this time a bunch of Ravenclaw girls. One was Cho, which caused him to feel immediately guilty.

That group wanted answers, so he was going to try again, but then another knock and another group of students walked in stopped him. So he decided to wait until all the others came before trying.

Once there had been a five minute lull of just all the kids talking, Harry thought that it would be safe to begin, but just as he was about to start speaking the door opened and someone said, "Fred! I know where we are! This is the place we hid from Filch. It was only a broom cupboard then."

"That's why we couldn't find it again," Fred, assumingly, stepped into the room first, holding onto a ball of white fur. The girls immediately aw'd and ran over to Pup, who hissed at them all and covered his muzzle with his tail.

George followed suit and waited a beat before shutting the door. "Alrighty, now that we're in, we have a guest here!"

"Yeah!" Ginny squealed, hugging her chest as she stared at Pup with huge eyes. "I just wanna hold him! I won't hurt him, I swear!"

Fred chuckled and shook his head, holding Pup closer to his chest. "He's not the guest we were talking about."

"Who's there?"

Fred cleared his throat as George went to the closest wall and began a drumroll. The twin holding Pup said in a strong voice that made Harry grin until he heard the words, "Introducing from Slytherin... Blaise Zabini!"

The whole room was silent as the Italian boy appeared out of nowhere. He wasn't smiling, just inclined his head as George finished with a last slap to the wall. "Imbeciles."

The word jolted everyone into action. "What the hell?"

"I thought you said -"

"What's he doing here?"

"He's a _Slytherin!"_

But it was Ron's laughter that had everyone turning to him. He had a hold on his stomach and Harry had to wonder if his friend was ok. "Ron?"

"Nice joke." Straightening, Ron walked over to his brother's and slapped Fred on the back while he grinned at George. "Who is it really?"

The two cackled, even as Fred stroked a finger down Pup's back. The little animal had peeked his eyes out and bared his teeth when Ron lifted a hand towards his head.

"Careful there, Ronniekins, wouldn't want to lose your finger."

"Seriously, though, who's the bloke who's pretending to be a Zabini clone?"

"I take offense to that," Zabini strode forward, his arms crossed. "No one will ever be a 'Zabini clone' as you call me. If they do and I find out, they will be in severe pain."

Ron, not thinking, reached out and scratched Pup's ear. A loud bark was the only warning the youngest Weasley male had before Pup jumped on Fred's arm and chomped his tiny fangs into Ron's finger.

His yelp had Harry bringing his hand to his mouth and holding back a chuckle. Ron was so stupid sometimes, it should have been obvious by the times they had seen Pup that he didn't want to be touched by anyone other than the twins.

"Well?" Hermione stood in front of Blaise, tilting her head at Zabini. "What are you doing here?"

He raised his eyebrow, "I thought you were the smart one."

Harry watched as Hermione blushed and his smile slipped off his face. "I think it's a good question, Zabini."

The brown eyes flitted over to his green ones briefly before looking away, "Of course you do, Potter. You wouldn't believe the simple truth. I'm here to learn defense, just as everyone else."

Ron, who had his finger held tightly in his hand, scuttled over to Hermione. "Why would a Slytherin like you want to be here? You hate us and we hate you. Simple enough. Now get out." Pup gave another yip and Ron shot a glare over at the diminutive animal, "You shut your trap, you fiend."

Harry would have sworn the fox gave Ron a smirk. It's lips parted back a tiny bit, just letting his fangs show.

"Ron," Hermione sighed. "Really now, he's here to learn, right?"

Blaise smirked at her, "Why else would I be here?"

"To rat us out!"

Harry nudged Ron, not wanting to deal with one of Hermione's rants later. "Hold it, mate," he muttered. "Don't wanna get on her nerves anymore. We didn't do our Charms homework and we'll already get an earful of that. Let's not add to the plate."

Ron looked over at the girl who was glaring at him, "Ehh, probably a good idea."

Harry nodded and shot a cheeky grin at Hermione, "Anything you say, Hermione."

Pup gave a few short barks, jumping from Fred's arm to his shoulder before leaping onto the twin's head and curling up into the auburn hair. His white fur was like a beacon in the thick locks.

Hermione gave them another glare before turning to Blaise. "However, you must sign this. You cannot leave until you do so." She held up a piece of paper which held the others signatures. Before the snake could ask what it was, Hermione beat him to it, "It's so that you can't -"

"'Rat you out', as your... counterpart called it." He waved a hand when Hermione meant to interrupt him. "These..." his eyes wandered over to Fred before he kept going, "hellions have already explained everything to me."

With a single motion with his wand, Zabini had a quill in his hand and before Hermione could say or do anything, he scribed his name on the parchment. "Now, that's settled." His quill disappeared and he looked at Harry and asked, "Well?"

Without knowing why, Harry looked over at Fred and Pup. The animal's teeth were showing, as if he were laughing at the black-haired teen. Confused, all he could think to say was, "Eerr..."

Hermione, thankfully, beat him to it, "Now we have that settled, we need -"

"Nothing's settled!" Zacharias Smith muttered, just loud enough to be heard. "He's a Slytherin."

"He's under the contract, he won't be able to get away with anything without consequence." Hermione said. "It doesn't matter if he's a Slytherin or not. He's here to learn and that's all that matters. Now, we're going to decide whose leader."

And with that, the meeting began with more than a few snide remarks and furious looks towards Zabini. But the Slytherin didn't seem to notice, he just kept looking over at Fred and seeming to glare a little bit.

Harry chanced a glance at the animal, and immediately regretted it as his mind focused on one thought: _Great, I'm being judged by a bloody fox._

* * *

A/N Ahhh, poor Harry. He _is_ being judged by a bloody fox. :D


	28. No Good Reason

A/N Wow... updated twice in one day. I'm on a writing kick, so you _might_ get another chapter tomorrow (which I can't wait for you guys to read). Lol. I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter (32), too. Kinda sort. Well here you guys go, chapter 28! Enjoy! Oooh, and things that are italicized and not in quotes are someone's thoughts, not the Malfoy mask. :)

* * *

Lazily opening his eyes, Draco found himself staring up at the ceiling. Dark wooden panels were above, carvings of mermaids and other dubious water creatures were moving around on it.

Green curtains were closed around him, even though no one shared the room with him. Where they would part was sealed off so it couldn't be seen. His wand was in his hand as he absentmindedly twirled it around his lean fingers.

Cool eyes narrowed, falling to the curtains and his wand was pointing directly at them. He sat up, Slytherin green blankets pooling around his body.

His necklace continued to heat up, so Draco swished his wand so that the curtains moved to reveal the Italian boy sitting on the opposite bed. "What do you want, Zabini?"

"Well, lets see, Malfoy." Blaise had his legs crossed even as he pointed his wand to the door so that it shimmered briefly before returning to normal. "I am tired of waiting for all of my questions to be answered. Since those Weasley twins are no longer here to intervene, you will answer when I ask a question."

Draco rose from his bed with a smirk and casually began changing his clothes. "It took you long enough, Zabini. Ask your questions."

He never wore a shirt to bed, it was too restricting and it grew hot under all the blankets. All he wore when he went to sleep were his trousers. So he slipped those off so he stood only in his boxers when Blaise asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"Changing?" Draco raised an eyebrow before he shucked off his boxers and pulled another pair on. "I do not wish to be wearing the same clothing as yesterday. Seems simple enough."

"And you are making this more difficult than what it is needed to be." Blaise sighed as he picked some lint off his robes. "I mean, why are you putting yourself through so much trouble? Why do you want the Slytherins to turn on you? Why are you spending so much time with the Weasley twins? Why do you want me to try to release Pansy from a curse that's almost impossible to break?"

_Don't tell him anything._

If he wasn't going to tell Blaise a thing, Maloy's words would have changed his mind. "This isn't the best place for this discussion." When Blaise opened his mouth to argue, Draco held up his hand and said, "I swear on my magic I will answer the questions I can in the Come and Go Room with the hellions there as well."

Blaise paused, his wand tip tapping against his temple. "When?"

Pulling on some trousers, Draco _accio_'d his diary to him and wrote quickly:

_Hellions,_

_C&GR. Now._

Not bothering to shut it, he tapped his wand on the paper to make it glow. It didn't take long until he received a reply.

_Blondie,_

_Coming_

_F & G_

_P.S. we finally figured out how to put the blasted P.S. after our names._

Smirking, Draco snapped the book closed and tossed it on his bed. "We are going now."

"Right this moment?"

Draco stretched his arms over his head, wand firmly in hand. "I see no reason not to."

"I do."

"Oh? And what, pray tell, is that?"

"You are missing an article of clothing."

Draco looked down at himself. His scars stretched across his toned stomach, his breathing making the scarred tissue move fluidly with the motion. "I am aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I see no problems with how I am."

"Of course not." Blaise rolled his eyes as he stood.

But Draco was lying. There was plenty wrong with him, he just couldn't afford to lose Blaise over something trivial as being derogatory towards himself.

Pulling on a silk button-down, the blonde lead the way out of his room and into the common room. With a subtle flick of his wand, Draco's hair was in perfect condition and everything he wore sat just right.

Blaise pushed past him, a glare in place as he strode out of the common room and towards the Come and Go Room.

At least he was still playing his part even if he didn't have all the answers yet.

Some of the other fifth years glared at him before going back to whatever they were doing. As he was about to leave, his eyes wandered over to Theo who was working on something at a table.

"Nott, do be careful not to overextend your brain. Your capacity will diminish." Draco sidled forward until he was looking down at some badges that said, _Weasley sucks!_ "Tell me you aren't re-using that old prank? It is too similar with the Potter badges from last year. You're such a disappointment. I'm not sure why I'm so surprised that you have nothing more creative. Try something like this." He gave his wand a slight wave and the words changed to: _Weasley is Our King!_

"He is certainly not our king!"

The whole common room fell quiet and Draco gave a long sigh. "It's called sarcasm, Nott. I know you aren't familiar with the concept, but I've decided to show you an example in the simplest terms that even someone with your intellect can grasp. I also suggest making a song to go with it so you can sing it while he plays. It'll distract him." And Draco could get Ron back for petting him.

Quickly turning away, Draco turned and called over his shoulder. "Since I doubt you can come up with something on your own, I'll give you a draft before the game."

Ignoring the outraged sputters, Draco left the room and hurried to the seventh floor under a disillusionment charm. He was doing a grand job of getting the others angry with him. It was, after all, something that he excelled at.

He entered the room and found it different. There was no place to sit except the padded floor, and there were many tiny windows everywhere that let fresh air in. Other than that, the whole room was empty. The twins and Blaise were already sitting there, waiting for him.

"If you don't mind," Fred started.

"... We need to hurry this up,"

"... There is a Quidditch game to get to."

Draco waved his hand, "Yes, yes. We have little over an hour before we need to be in the locker rooms. I only want to explain this once, and only once. And all of this is important, and will never be repeated."

The other three nodded and Draco sat in front of them, folding himself carefully. "Now, Zabini, I am not going to answer your questions immediately. There is something I need to explain first. The hellions touched on it not too long ago, and I need to go in depth about that." He didn't look at the others, but kept his gaze firmly locked on the burgundy carpet, his voice soft.

Before he could go on, the twins shouted, "Wait!"

His eyes flashed up, his wand was immediately in his hand, and he was on his feet facing the door. A second later a disarming spell was cast from his wand and hit... nothing. Furious, he turned to look at the three and asked, very quietly, "What?"

The two had wide eyes and they gripped each others arms. They began to shake.

And burst out laughing.

Without an ounce of remorse, Draco sent two stinging hexes at the two that quieted them, and he repeated, "What?"

Fred was still chuckling, so George pulled something out of his twin's pocket and held it out to the blonde. "A gift from us to you."

Draco didn't move, just narrowed his eyes at the small bracelet on the other's palm.

George sighed, but didn't move. Fred, on the other hand, jumped to his feet, grabbed the bracelet, and grabbed Draco's wrist.

_Go on. Ruin it all. Kiss him._

Draco tried pulling away, but Fred clamped the bracelet around Draco's wrist. "Blondie, it's a gift." He grinned as he went to sit back down.

Glaring, Draco tried to get it off, but it refused to budge. "What the hell?"

"It won't come off until we want it to," George explained, a large smirk in place.

"_And_ it will tell us when you're not acting the way you want to." Fred threw an arm around his brother. "We're tired of guessing who the real you is, so we're going to find out."

"Why weren't you sorted into Slytherin?"

"They give away their plans," Draco muttered, glaring at the bracelet. "This is no gift."

The two scoffed, "It is too! It was expensive."

Blaise shot a look at Draco, "You can squabble later. Continue where you left off."

Wanting to throw something at the twins, he continued, "What I was -"

"See! You didn't do something you wanted to do!" Fred muttered.

Draco pierced him with a glare, "I will happily throw a book at your head if you really want me to." When he didn't receive an answer, Draco continued, "As I was saying, there is something I need to explain first, and it goes along the lines of what the hellions were just talking about."

The two perked up, but kept their mouths firmly shut.

"Stupid Sev," Draco whispered to himself before settling back onto the ground, his fingers idly playing with the bracelet. "There is something that we Malfoy's have that we've been perfecting ever since we've been born. It's called the Malfoy mask, a persona that we have when we need to deal with the darker side of the war. However, it seems as if my mask has... manifested. It has a will of its own."

"So... your loony?" Fred asked.

Draco's eyes bored into Fred, making him shrink into his brother who was shaking his head. Appeased, Draco went on, "This mask is how I survive in the Death Eater world. However, this mask wants me to be truly faithful to the Dark Lord."

"Which is total rubbish," Fred muttered. George just nodded.

"Now, that means that the mask - we'll just call him Malfoy - doesn't want to have anything to do with any of you. He is bound and determined to get you all away from me. And apparently he already told Sev how he was planning on it."

"Do tell," George grinned.

Blaise said nothing, just listened and watched.

He didn't want to tell them what Sev had told him. It was... wrong. But when he opened his mouth to tell them, Fred and George pointed their fingers at him. "Halt right there. You are doing something you don't want to do."

"How do you even know that?"

They both pointed to the plain silver bracelet on his wrist.

"What? It's not any different."

"We can see it change color, and only us."

"Buggering hell."

The two grinned.

"I can't act how I want to at all times."

"Sure you can."

Blaise waved his wand and the two went silent even though their mouths continued to move. "Cease your bickering. Now, continue, Malfoy."

Draco grinned at the two, but then frowned at Blaise. "Before we go any farther, you should start calling me by my first name, only in private of course. Every time you say Malfoy, it makes him want to come out."

"We shall see. Now, about Malfoy wanting to split the four of us apart, though there isn't really anything of merit that is keeping us together."

Draco shrugged, "His way is pretty simple, according to Sev. Malfoy is planning on kissing one of the hellions in front of you so that you get disgusted and want to leave."

"I fail to see how that affects the twins leaving."

"I would have pushed them away because of Father's teachings of getting married and having heirs to continue the line."

Blaise nodded, "Though I have to wonder why that would have deterred me." The Italian boy scratched his cheek. "The twins are much better than any of the other Gryffindors."

"Except 'Mione," somehow the twins had escaped the silencing charm and were nudging him, but Blaise sent them a hexing charm and they backed off. "Don't think we didn't notice you keeping an eye on her during D.A. meetings."

Rising an elegant eyebrow he said, "She is seemingly the only able student in there besides Potter and myself and possibly you two dunderheads. However, I have no desire to be watching anyone other than one who is consistent and not busy being self-conscious or too full of themselves." He sniffed and turned back to Draco. "Now, my questions."

"Of course. I believe most of them were whys." Draco raised a finger and said, "I'm going through all this trouble to survive. If I didn't, I would be killed as would my family. I'm spending time with the hellions because they refuse to have it any other way. As for Pansy, I believe she is passing information to whoever is controlling her, and she is not acting as a pure blooded woman should. She is throwing herself at me when she shouldn't be. Also, if yous save her she'll leave me alone. Did I miss anything?"

"Yes, why you are wanting to turn the Slytherins against you."

"Orders. It's supposed to unite the houses together. According to who I'm receiving my orders from, it's because of me that the houses are refusing to unite. If they all hate me, they have something in common."

Fred and George scooted closer and Draco held his wand in front of him.

Both held up their hands and the blonde slowly lowered his wand, eyes narrowed. In one practiced motion, the two lunged forward and had him in hugs cooing, "Awww, Blondie."

"Do you want a spell to go up your arse before a game?"

One of them released him, ruffling his hair. But when Draco went to move away from the other, he found himself in the familiar position on Fred's lap who put his head on top of the blonde hair.

A chuckle had Draco looking over at Blaise, "This might yet be amusing."

* * *

It was after the game and Draco was amused to see that Nott had used his words for the song for Weasley: _Weasley cannot save a thing, He cannot block a single ring, That's why Slytherins all sing: Weasley is our King. Weasley was born in a bin, He always lets the Quaffle in, Weasley will make sure we win, Weasley is our King._ It was rather ingenious, if he did say so himself. It was adequate enough redemption for Ron trying to pet him.

His broom on his shoulder, he wasn't at all upset that Slytherin still hadn't won. All that mattered was that Ron was upset over the simplest things. The Golden Trio were already heading towards the castle, and most of the school were trailing after them.

The other students on Draco's team were either ignoring him or giving him glares, but it didn't really bother him.

"Hem hem," as Draco began to walk towards the castle, Umbridge's little cough had him turning with a forced smile.

"Professor," Draco inclined his head slightly. "To what do I owe the honor?"

The little woman waddled up to him, temporarily blinding him with her pink clothing. "I just wish to have tea with you. Do you mind accompanying me?"

"No, ma'am." Very carefully, he sent his broom back into the locker room. _So much for another flight_. Up ahead he saw the hellions rushing over to Harry and hauling him onto their shoulders with laughter.

He felt his lips tighten before looking over at the toad again. Her small, beady eyes were locked on his face with a mad twinkle within them. "We have much to discuss, you and I."

She lead the way, her tiny heels eating the ground as she strode towards, and finally into, the castle. It was a quick trip to her office and he was sitting in front of the wooden desk, ignoring the pictures of the cats staring at him.

The door shut behind him and he took a seat in a plush, pink chair. He crossed his legs and placed his hands in his lap. "What a lovely room."

"Isn't it?" The toad looked around the room, a small smile on her lips. "My darling cats deserve the best. Now, about that tea. Would you like some?" She sat behind her desk and charmed a teapot to pour one glass as she looked up at Draco.

"No, thank you. I am not very thirsty after games."

"Of course." She sat in her chair and sipped on her drink. "You fly very well, Mr. Malfoy."

"My father trained me since I was young."

She smiled, "It doesn't seem as if you fly to your potential."

Apparently she was more observant than he gave her credit for. So he leaned forward and steepled his fingers. "It is far better to keep what you excel at from others. It can be used at a later date to your advantage."

"Spoken like a true Malfoy."

"Thank you, Professor." Draco sat back in his chair, removing invisible lint from his robes.

The woman gave a tiny, high-pitched laugh. "Even so, you fly beautifully. There's more grace in you than that Potter boy." She waved a hand in the air, "But we aren't here to discuss him. What we are here for is you."

When Draco didn't move to answer, her smile widened. "I have a proposition for you, Mr. Malfoy. We are alike in many ways. We have no close friendships, it ties us down. Both of us want greatness, and I can help you rise to your full potential. Of course, your father will help you go far. I can help you go farther."

Draco cocked his head, "How?"

* * *

Harry sat watching the map, his eyes glued on the Malfoy's dot moving towards the seventh floor. _The Room of Requirement_.

Dropping his face into the pillow, he couldn't believe how utterly _stupid_ he had been. Moving quickly, he grabbed his cloak and wrapped it around himself to disappear. He kept his grip on the map and wandered down the stairs into the common room.

Malfoy was just heading onto the fifth floor and Harry was fidgeting by the entry hole of the common room, waiting for someone to enter or exit.

To his luck, the twins were just heading out, and he followed them out. Expecting the two to go a different way, Harry found himself trailing behind them. Every time they got to a new hallway, he waited for them to head a different direction, but they didn't.

Eventually, though, the two cast some sort of spell and disappeared from sight. Looking down at the map, he saw them _still_ moving in the direction of the Room of Requirement.

With a muttered, "Mischief managed," Harry went to the opposite wall of where the door normally was and waited.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for the door to appear. Since he couldn't see anyone else, Harry watched the door open and didn't know when would be a safe time to enter.

So, giving up on thinking it out, he just rushed forward inside. He brushed against something, but then he hurried into a corner and huddled down with the hope that he didn't run into someone else.

The door shut with an inaudible click and everyone revealed themselves. The twins seconds before the blonde headed Slytherin.

"Blondie! Twice in one..."

"... Day that you've called us here."

But Malfoy wasn't listening to them, and he didn't seem overly concerned that they had pretty much thrown themselves over him. For Harry, his mouth was dropped open until he was sure it was hitting the floor. _So _he's _the Blondie they were talking about?_

The Slytherin drew his wand and did a couple of motions before he shook his head and focused on the twins. "Get off my person before I hex you both."

One of the twins sidled away, but the other plopped to the ground and seemed to cuddle the git on his lap. Harry clamped his hand over his mouth to keep from shouting out, his teeth digging into his lip.

"Aww, don't start talking like that," the one holding Malfoy patted his head as the other twin laid down in front of the other two, his head on Malfoy's lap.

"We just like cuddling."

"And I do not."

"It's not changing colors."

"You are colorblind, then." Malfoy crossed his arms, trying to edge away and failing. "I did not bring you here to _cuddle_. Malfoy's don't cuddle."

"You're Blondie, and Blondie does." The one lying on Malfoy said with a grin. "Now why did you bring us here?"

"Umbridge."

"What about her?"

"She is starting something called an _Inquisitorial Squad._ We'll be a step above prefects."

"Which you are doing a bang up job of."

Malfoy didn't comment on that. "I'll be keeping an eye on the Golden Trio and reporting anything of importance to her. For example, if Ha-Potter mentions the Dark Lord then she is to know."

"Aww, you get to spy on Harry."

"It isn't spying if I'm telling you hellions." Malfoy rolled his eyes before jumping out of the twin's lap. However, he didn't get far as the twin grabbed his arm and dragged him back.

"Stay put."

A scowl plastered itself on Malfoy's face and he pulled out his wand. With a slight wave he had the two jumping up and down, scratching at themselves. "I've had enough of you two for the day," and with that the Slytherin stormed out of the room.

Harry sat there, watching in awe as the twins stopped frantically scratching to just mildly rubbing their arms. "He's awesome, Georgie."

"Just don't do anything to get Creepy in your bed again."

"That was last year and it was an accident!"

George bellowed out a laugh as he went to leave, "You scarred the poor boy."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Standing up, Harry thought about telling Ron and Hermione what happened, but he couldn't come up with a good reason why he should.


	29. Objective: Pup then Malfoy

A/N Ok, just as a warning these parts are happening at the same time. Also, this chapter is extremely short, but it's a funnish one, _finally_ a chapter not full of angst. :D Hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Draco waved Pansy away, "Parkinson, I'm at the library. I have no need for you. Go bother Zabini." His hand was in his pocket, his fingers clutched around two pieces of paper.

The other fifth year Slytherins were a ways away, some blatantly glaring at him. "But Draco," the black haired girl whined. "I want to stay with you."

"No. If you follow me, I will burn your clothing." Draco spun on his heel and tapped the large wooden doors in front of him. A second later they opened to show him rows and rows of large bookshelves. Books flew lazily from shelf to shelf, one level to another, the pages ruffling as they went.

The smell of parchment, ink, and musty pages filled the room. The scratching of quills, the rustling of papers, the muted sighs of students were heard, but no one dared to speak more than muted whispers to one another.

He released a breath of air in relief when the doors closed and Pansy was on the other side of them. He meandered to the back of the library - cautious not to go to the unused area where he had found the twins and Lee Jordan.

He turned another corner and found the Golden Trio sitting around a table. Hermione was reading a book and taking notes furiously while the other two were lightly snoring.

Carefully, he gave a delicate cough that had her head shooting up. Hermione blinked up at him, confused for a moment before he grinned at her and gave a subtle flick of his wand, "Meow," he whispered, a feral smile in place.

With that, he left her sputtering behind him. He went over to his desk, took his bag off, and dug his diary out of it. He opened it and quickly wrote:

_Mother,_

_Sev was able to get me a book called _Secrets of the Darkest Art_ after explaining to Dumbledore that I was researching cursed books, so that I can handle them when I am with the Dark Lord. It has mention of horcruxes, perhaps I can find some information in there._

_No, I will not go to him. I can not stand the old man._

_Mum, I need any other information on horcruxes that you can give me._

_Love,_

_Draco_

With a nod he snapped the book closed and took out Sev's note and burned it. Going to the window, he opened it a crack and let the ashes fly away. After all, all that the letter had were instructions.

The other note was waiting for a bird to take it away. The stupid mutt had obviously not told the bird to wait for Draco to write the letter before it flew away. Instead, it was written and in his pocket.

_Mutt,_

_I believe your form is called the _Grim_. How many breeds are known as that? I know you rarely use your common sense, but this is no time to lose it._

_If you take anything I say as concern, you are sorely wrong._

_Also, my mother has sent me a note to tell you to be careful and not rush into things without thinking, as you normally do. As she says, "Do not take risks"._

_As for school, it is school. What else is there to say about it?_

_The bird you are using is familiar, and useless._

_D_

Draco put his diary back in his bag as he stood up. However, he left his belongings at the table and went to one of the bookshelves near him and pulled down a thick tome, keeping a watchful eye on his bag.

With a quick look around, Draco went back to the window and sat on the window seat. He put up a barrier so that he would know who would come near so he would have time to react. So Draco pulled up his knees, cracked open the book, and began to read.

* * *

What was he up to? Hermione's eyes narrowed on the Slytherin as he walked away. One of his hands was in his pocket and his stride was confidant. A book came towards him, but he merely tilted his head a tiny bit and it went by him; he didn't seem to have even noticed.

His blonde hair was neatly kept, his facial features had been under tight control, but his eyes had been slightly expressive. There had been a slight gleam in them; what that meant, Hermione was determined to find out. His grin, though, had been done on purpose; she was sure.

But that wasn't what she was focusing on first. Instead, she dug another piece of paper from her bag and wrote on the top: _Draco Malfoy_ and cast a quick spell on it so only she could write or read or see the paper. With a nod, she carefully put it back in the bag and went back to the book she had been reading earlier, easily putting Malfoy to the back of her mind to simmer.

The parchment she had been writing on was nearly full. She had almost finished the first part of her plan, and the second would be ready to execute as soon as she had finished writing everything she needed down on the paper.

This was what she had:

_Familiars_

_1) Depending on the familiar, it can be an alter-ego of the person(s) who have the familiar_

_ a. Alter-ego =__ a second self; a perfect substitute or deputy / __an inseparable friend /__ another aspect of one's self_

_2) All familiars are linked to an individual in some sort of way_

_ a. Death_

_ b. Thirst for knowledge_

_ c. Need of wisdom and guidance_

_ d. Power_

_3) The human never has control over their familiar. __However, it is possible to call upon the familiar at any point in time_

_4) When a familiar is named, it must agree to it_

_5) There are four different types of familiars_

_ a. The Physical Familiar = __This familiar must always be with their human. They are loved and __feed, but never owned_

_ b. Elemental Familiar =__ This familiar can control a specific element__ (Earth, Water, Wind, Fire)_

_ c. Astral Familiar =__ This familiar comes to their human with the specific goal to help their __human_

_ d. Discarnate Familiar =__ This familiar is a reincarnation of someone who has died, reborn in animal __form_

Hermione nodded and brought another piece of paper out and began to write on that. Her eyes were focused and her tongue held tightly between her teeth. Curly brown locks were pushed from her face so she could see clearly.

_Question to Ask Fred and George Weasley_

_On the Matter of the Fennec Fox_

_1) Where did you find Pup?_

_ a. In the castle?_

_ b. Outside of the castle on the grounds?_

_ c. Hogsmeade?_

_ d. Burrow?_

_ e. Diagon Alley?_

_2) How long have you been around Pup?_

_ a. Did someone die around that time?_

_3) What do you desire the most?_

_ a. Destruction, knowledge, guidance, or power?_

_4) How did you come up with the name Pup?_

Hermione nodded again as she set her quill down. Straight and to the point. There were lines under each question so she could fill the answers in after she had questioned the two about the fox. It certainly wasn't there without a purpose, and it was somehow linked to those two in someway.

When Ron had told her not to worry about it, she had looked at him in shock. And he said that _after_ the fox had bitten him. His reasoning was that if Crookshanks was ok with Pup, it was good enough for him.

Shaking her head, she couldn't believe he put so much faith in her cat after the whole Pettigrew incident, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. After all, he wasn't being rude to her about Crookshanks anymore.

"Meow."

Sighing, she looked up and was about to tell Malfoy off when she saw Harry looking at her. His emerald eyes were changed: the pupils were mere slits within the green orbs.

"Meow!"

Hermione paused, her mouth slightly open. Harry had cat eyes and whiskers on his face. His green eyes were blown wide and he kept opening his mouth to say something, but all that came out was, "Meow! Meow! Meow!"

Sticking her hand over her mouth, Hermione attempted to hide her giggles. However, a responding, "Merrow?" came from Harry's other side and caused her to snort. Looking over at the other boy, she saw Ron in the same condition as Harry.

Madam Pince turned the corner, her beady eyes focused on them when both Harry and Ron looked at each other and went, "MRRRRRRRROW?!" Hermione lost all control and began cackling, falling from her chair with tears of laughter coming to her eyes.

She couldn't help it. It was hilarious, even if Malfoy had somehow managed to do it.

"Get out! Get out of my precious library right now!" Madam Pince's voice came from above her and Hermione had no choice but to choke on her laughter, put a silencing charm on her boys, pack up their things, and lead them to Madam Pomfrey. By the time they got to the Hospital Wing, she was pretty much back in control.

But when the nurse had asked how it happened, she just erupted into laughter again.

When she finally calmed down, she explained what happened, but left out Malfoy's role.

After all, when she was finished with the fox, her next objective was Malfoy. And before she could claim anything, she needed her facts on him first; and they needed to be correct. Still, she wouldn't worry about that at that moment.

She needed to figure out when to talk to the twins.

* * *

A/N As I was writing Hermione's POV, I decided I love how her mind works :D Oh, and if she seems a bit nosey, it's because that's how I perceive her to be. I mean, she has a very curious mind, and she doesn't like things that don't fit. I mean, come on, Pup came out of nowhere to everyone else and she's like, "Whaaaaaaaaat are you doing there? Where did you come from?" So, of course, she's going to try to figure it out. Lol. Though her notes don't look how I wanted them to. *pout* oh well.

Also, if you were curious as Draco's thing when he says: "I'll burn your clothing", it's because Pansy loves how she looks, and it's a good threat to get her to leave. Lol.

Look, pretty much no angst! But we'll be back to angst in no time. lol. I just decided Draco needed something that was fun. :)


	30. Warnings of Visions

A/N Look! 30 chapters! Holy moley! I am soooooo surprised to have gotten this far. XD *does happy dance* Enjoy.

* * *

_My office. Now._

The note was just like Severus: straight to the point.

Draco had gotten rid of the letter as soon as he read it. He had deposited it into the fire and it was easily taken care of. It was then the simple matter of ignoring the other Slytherins and walking out of the common room.

There were no windows in the dungeons and there were few portraits. There were lots of moving statues and hidden passages to slip into. But he couldn't see the snow falling, or listen to the inane conversations of wizards and witches from the past.

He wished he could see the purity that was left in the world. He wished he could hear the prattling of old timers so he wouldn't have to be left alone to his thoughts. Thoughts he didn't want to focus on: keeping his secrets, doing his job, keeping people alive.

Finally he opened the door to Sev's office, his mind still wandering.

Sev didn't even bother waiting until the door was shut.

Draco fell to his knees in the doorway with his fingers digging into his thighs. His teeth stabbed into his lip, a thick coppery taste filling his mouth. Yet he kept his mind firmly on his lake and the memories hiding beneath the surface.

The potions master pulled out in seconds. Draco didn't have a major headache, but a smaller one still pounded against his temples.

"You are ready for the final step."

"What?"

Rising to his feet again, Draco shut the door behind him and felt the familiar barriers rushing to their places. Severus was still behind his desk, dark eyes still latched on silver-blue ones. "You need to let everything in your landscape fall completely. Nothing can remain intact."

With his hands in his pockets, Draco went to the lone chair in front of Severus and sat. "That doesn't make sense, Sev. If I do that, all my memories will be free and everything that we've worked for will be for naught."

His godfather rose a finger to silence the boy. When Draco complied, Severus said, "When you let your landscape fall, you let the memories within it sift into, or behind, others. For example, your lake is where all of your memories are hidden. So when your landscape falls, take each water droplet - each memory - and soak it into another memory that has no need to be hidden."

His headache pushed at the front of Draco's skull, skipping and tapping random beats. "If I let memories soak into each other, then something is bound to show that we don't want apparent."

"You are not thinking clearly, boy." At his godfather's words, the blonde pressed two fingers against his forehead. His eyes were closed as the two digits massaged his head as he listened. "The memories will be absorbed by the safer memories and stay hidden."

"How?"

Severus waved the question away as if bothered by a fly. "You pick the memory closest to what you want hidden, and the similar points will stop the observer from looking too closely. Very few wizards have ever gotten to this point here in Britain: The Dark Lord, Albus Dumbledore, your father and mother, Bellatrix, myself, and... a woman named Lily."

Lily? He never heard of a well-known witch named Lily except for the muggle-born who had married James Potter. But if that was the woman he was referring to, then Sev wouldn't have called her by her first name. He would have just called her Potter's wife because he hated James Potter.

Deciding not push it, Draco asked, "What if the Dark Lord looks?"

"You are just a young boy, and you are Lucius Malfoy's son and my godson. It is a very low probability that he will look deeper than he normally would."

"What about the rest of the probability?"

"I was hoping you had some semblance of brain power left to hold a conversation, Draco."

"My apologies, Sev."

"Now, off this topic and onto a far more important matter concerning the Dark Lord and your updates." Understanding quickly, Draco stood and straightened his clothing and gave a sharp nod for Severus to continue. "It seems he approves of your... idea."

"Is that so?"

"However, the knowledge you have will be very limited. You will know only what he deems necessary to pass on, and he expects more information in turn."

"Of course."

"Potter will begin receiving visions from our Dark Lord. The Dark Lord found a way this summer when an event happened. What you need to know is that all but one vision will be correct. The first will be Nagini attacking someone in the Order, and the others will be of a hallway. However, the last vision is what will be false. It will seem as if Sirius Black has been taken and hidden away."

Malfoy clucked his tongue and slumped back in the chair, his legs thrown over the armrest. When Snape glared at him, Malfoy sent him a smirk. "Now now, Sevvy, I'm not in the mood for your temper tantrums. After all, you ruined all my fun with the twins. Not only that, but he is now able to stay awake."

"Is that so?"

"Why else would I say it? I mean, he's thumping around in our head trying to come back out. It's sorta... sweet, don't you think?" Malfoy grinned, lowering his head on the other armrest to look at the ceiling.

But then another idea came to mind, and Malfoy slowly got to his feet and moved towards Snape. "What do you think, Sevvy? Should I let the boy come out to play in this dangerous world? I mean, look at him!" He threw out his arms to emphasize his point. "Such a frail boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Now, as I was going to say, the Dark Lord knows that the boy won't trust a word we say is true."

Snape's eye twitched when Malfoy plopped himself on the desk. "Until Potter finds out what is said to him is true, he won't trust Draco. Now, let my godson out."

"No, I don't think I will." Malfoy looked up through light lashes to stare at the greasy haired man. "And slapping me won't do the trick anymore. That was more of a surprise than anything."

Ahh, that look of anger that flashed in Snape's eyes was delicious.

Twisting, Malfoy got to his knees so he was face to face to the elder man. "Now, Sevvy, do you know how much faith the boy has in you now? Hmm? Do you?" When he was met with silence Malfoy pouted.

Blonde bangs fell over his eyes, and a slow smile spread across his face. He placed his palms on the desk covered with papers and leaned forward. Careful, slowly, so he wouldn't startle his prey. He moved his weight to his hands until he was leaning forward. His fingers crawled forward until they gripped the edge of the desk.

Only then did Malfoy look up to see the Potion Master tense with barely contained fury. "His faith, Sevvy, is hanging by a thread." His voice came out only in a whisper, the breath falling across the elder man's face. "Do you know that? He used to be able to come here and talk to you, but now you revert to calling him_ boy_ and only bring him here to jump into his mind and scramble his memories. His faith, Sevvy, is failing quickly. And when everyone leaves him broken, I'll be the one to piece him back together again." Silver eyes flashed with greed. "And you can't do one little thing about it."

Reaching forward, Malfoy aimed to tap Snape on the nose, but his wrist was caught. "My godson. Now."

"Bossy, bossy." Sighing, Malfoy leaned back on his heels and wrenched himself out of the man's grasp. He jumped to the ground with a hand massaging his bruised wrist. "Don't take me so lightly, Sevvy. And you don't know everything you wish to about this boy."

Draco shook his head, massaging his head when his back gave a sharp twinge. Taking a deep breath, he knew the pain was about to come, and quickly hurried out of the office towards his safe haven.

He ignored the call from his godfather before the door shut between them. He pushed the memory of what Malfoy said back. He put on his disillusionment spell and tried to forget.

* * *

"Look, Hermione..."

"... You're awesome and all..."

"... but we need to be..."

"... somewhere right now."

The twins were standing in front of her, both of them holding different journals. Hermione herself stood in front of the portrait hole, eyes narrowed on the two. She had just found them, right before they had to go somewhere.

Pursing her lips, she asked, "Where are you off to?"

"Darling, you may..."

… be a prefect, but..."

"... it's not even curfew..."

"... yet. Not only that, but..."

"... we'll see you in..."

"... a few hours anyway."

"Must you always talk like that?" Placing her hands on her hips, she glared at the two.

"Not always, but..."

"... it's fun to make..."

"... people suffer. Now..."

"... what do you need, Hermione?"

"What I need is an Advil," she muttered to herself - her eyes went to her bag for a moment - before speaking louder. "I just wanted to ask a few things about Pup."

"Of course you do," the one on the left said with a smile on his face. "He's just awesome."

The other twin rolled his eyes and said, "Everyone does, Hermione. What do you want to know?"

"Not that we will for sure answer, of course."

"Of course," Hermione waved her hand. "Just a few questions, I promise. Where did you find him?"

"We had to chase after him," the two deadpanned at the same time, no trace of a smile in place.

"Aah..." That was certainly not the answer she was expecting. "Yes... but where?"

"Everywhere."

Time to change angles. "How long have you been around him?"

"Last year."

She blinked up at them, "Why haven't you brought him here before?"

The two looked at her if she was crazy. The one on the right laughed while the other fidgeted, looking over her shoulder and to the portrait hole. It was the one on the left who answered, "It was luck we got him here the first time. We had to drag him here when he didn't want us to."

The two shared a quick glance before saying in sync, "Are you done?"

"One last question. How did you come up with the name of Pup?"

"It fit him, Hermione." The right one said.

"Plus he doesn't like it." Without much thought, the one on the left pushed past Hermione and raced out of the common room with his twin right on his tail.

Her eyes were narrowed on the two, but she knew for a fact that Pup wasn't a familiar.

* * *

Harry sat in front of the Room of Requirement under his cloak. It was after the last meeting for the D.A. to meet before the Christmas break, and it was surely the most confusing one yet. It wasn't just Zabini who came that night.

He had brought along three others: Pansy Parkinson, a boy Roy Heatherspoon, and another girl named Rachel something - he couldn't remember or be bothered to remember. But the other two - Roy and Rachel - were a year younger than Zabini and seemed rather quiet.

He couldn't say anything about it because the two had signed the parchment with no complaints.

With a sigh, he looked back down at the map in his lap. The three dots labelled Fred Weasley, George Weasley, and Draco Malfoy were almost there.

The moment it had been safe for Harry to study the map in earnest, his eyes sought out Malfoy. And, of course, he saw that the prat was heading to the Room of Requirement.

With a muttered, "Mischief managed" the paper once again went blank. He hurried over to the opposite wall and stood right beside where he knew the door to be and waited.

It didn't take long to hear the muted steps, though it sounded like a few were stumbling.

The door appeared and it was quickly opened. There was a hoarse whisper of, "Leave it open for a few seconds."

Harry took those few seconds to slip in and scurried to the back corner of the well furnished room.

It was done in muted blues and greens so that it seemed to match water more than anything. There were multiple couches everywhere, all plush looking and soft to the touch. A fire was blazing on the opposite side of the door.

Seconds later, three people appeared and Harry could only stare in wonder before him.

Malfoy was covered in sweat and was standing only due to the twins.

"Blondie, why is this still going on?"

"Last time it ended as soon as you chan-"

"Stop talking, the two of you. Take me to a couch."

The aristocrat's face was pulled tight as if he were clenching his muscles. His eyes were pinched and his body shook.

Fred and George quickly obeyed the orders and took him to the couch right in front of the fire. One of them sat down first, stretching one leg on the couch with the other planted on the floor.

Harry didn't understand what was happening until Malfoy was settled against the twin's chest and an arm snuck around the blonde's waist.

And the blonde said nothing about it. He just shook and let himself be manhandled.

Harry couldn't stop the swell of pity that came up.

"Blondie?" The one who was holding Malfoy muttered, his hand in the blonde's hair. The twin didn't continue until he had a hum of recognition from the Slytherin. "Why are you still in pain?"

"It's my assumption that I wasn't bothered the first time I... meditated because it didn't recognize that it was me and the pain had pretty much passed by the time I started. However, this time I meditated before the pain passed. So I believe that it waited until afterwards - when it recognized me - to come back to finish what it started."

"Meditated?" The second twin sat on the floor, rubbing circles on the blonde's arm.

"Yeah, someone's in here," came the soft reply.

Harry's eyes shot open as he jumped to his feet, his action replicated by the twin on the floor.

"Who?"

"Do you know the accio charm?"

"Yes," both twins answered, voices hard.

"Summon Harry Potter. Not you!" Harry watched as Malfoy weakly hit the one he was lying on when he looked like he was going to say something. "I'm in enough pain as it is."

Silence stretched on, Harry felt as if butterflies had been let loose in his stomach. And then the one standing said, "Accio Harry Potter."

At first nothing happened. Then there was a tiny tugging at his middle. Then he was hurtling towards a tense twin. Unable to stop, he crashed into the twin, who barely missed the couch.

With a groan, Harry didn't realize his cloak had been pulled off until the twin under him poked him in the chest, "Harry, unless you're gonna do something, get off," and the small smile had Harry feeling a tiny bit of relief.

Then he turned with a scowl towards Malfoy, but it didn't last long before it slipped away. "How'd you know I was here?"

"I know many things. It doesn't matter how, but I have something to tell you. I was just going to tell the twins, but I don't think you would have understood that it was meant for you." Pale, glazed eyes wandered over to look in Harry's direction. "You're going to start seeing visions, and all are going to be true. All except one. When you see the one with Sirius Black in it, know that it's false."

Harry snatched up his cloak and walked towards the door. His teeth clanked together and Harry yanked on his hair before whirling back around. "And you know this how, Malfoy?"

"It doesn't matter. You won't believe me."

"Why would I?"

Malfoy gave a sigh before closing his eyes. "Because you're a stubborn Gryffindor who can't see anything past the obvious."

"Oi!"

"Shut it, you two. Potter, take my warning for what it is." Malfoy reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand. He gave it a tiny flick and had it back in his robes as Harry's own wand was whipped out.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing of importance, Potter. Now leave."

Harry sat in front of the door with his arms crossed in front of him and a set look on his face. Malfoy's eyes fluttered shut, and he began muttering something, but the only things Harry could hear was "... out... gave... compulsion... fine... out...lease."

What an odd bunch of things to say. Lease? What in the bloody hell was that about?

The one twin who Harry had ended up ramming into stood up and waved at the one on the couch. "No worries, Freddie."

George walked over to Harry and hauled him up.

"Sorry, Harry, gotta kick you out. Blondie's in a bit of pain at the moment. We'll chat later."

Harry wasn't sure what happened. One moment he was in the room, and in the next he was in front of a shut door with his cloak and map in his lap.

What were the twins problems? And what did Malfoy mean about the visions?

* * *

A/N Sooo, I thought I should explain/remind you guys of something first. When Harry is telling people it's safe to go out in turns after the D.A. meeting, he can't see who is in the Room of Requirement. After they leave, he's not worrying about them per se and still looking for teachers or Filch only, which is why he didn't notice Draco being with the twins as soon as they left the C & GR (come and go room). That is all. :D

Oh, and Harry and Draco talk. Well, kinda. Draco being like: I know better than you, so shut up, listen, and do as I say. LOL. Hope you guys liked the chapter!


	31. What a Christmas

A/N And Christmas is finally here for the fifth year! Halfway through this year! W00! Ahem, that out of the way, I just want you guys to know that I wasn't sure when the attack of Arthur Weasley happened, so I have the kids leaving school about a week before the holidays happen. Also, the song is from the sixth movie... I think... I didn't make it up, that's for sure. So, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. :)

* * *

_Dearest Draco,_

_I know this letter may come as a surprise, but like in your second year, you will not be coming home for the holidays. Your father and I are going to a few meetings in France. Your Christmas gift is in the package that Artemis carries._

_Love you Darling, see you during the summer holidays._

_Mum_

* * *

Draco sat at the crowded Slytherin table, murmurs of excitement filling the Great Hall. Yet no one in Slytherin looked over at him. After all, no one made a public scene. If one did they would receive something similar to what Draco was enduring.

No one to talk to. No one paying attention to him. Though he knew that many houses called him the Prince of Slytherin, there couldn't have been anything further from the truth.

There wasn't a hierarchy in Slytherin. There were affiliations. There were truths. There were pawns that were used and discarded. There were no true friends, just allies. There were no real feelings shown, just fake ones to gain what was needed.

Keeping his eyes down cast and hidden beneath his bangs, he took the package attached to Artemis' leg and bounced it lightly on his palm.

Money, of course.

Rolling his shoulders, Draco looked up. His eyes wandered over to the Gryffindor table, but he didn't see the Golden Trio or the twins.

Not looking up at his godfather - something he avoided for the last few days - he got to his feet and walked out of the Great Hall.

He wandered down to the dungeons and headed towards a passageway that he found not that long ago by accident. He had leaned against a wall and waited in the shadows for some other students to pass and he idly pressed a hand on a stone and the wall opened behind him. He stumbled backwards and fell on his arse as the passageway closed in front of him.

When Draco got to the wall, he opened it and entered, not bothering to wait to see the door close behind him as he walked downwards, his hands pressed against the smooth walls beside him. Little floating flames flickered on the ceiling which gave him just enough light to see.

After about ten minutes, he found himself in a large circular room that had a couch and fireplace that came to life when he stepped into the room. Draco walked passed the couch and towards the opposite wall and pressed a hand against it.

It immediately melted away to show him deep under the lake - deeper than the Slytherin dorms were. Where in the common room you could see creatures feet away from the wall, in the hidden room you could only see a few inches away.

He sat on the floor and curled his knees up to his chest, looking blankly out in the water.

_Why did they leave you?_

Draco sighed and buried his face in his legs, but he couldn't escape the voice of Malfoy.

_Did you expect them to stay for the holiday?_

No, he didn't. They had a family to go back to. A family they could be with. Draco crossed his arms around his knees, hugging himself tightly.

He would only have himself.

_And me. I'll never leave you, Draco. I'll always be here. For you and for me. We are one and the same. Forever._

* * *

Waking up on Christmas day was uneventful. There was nothing different about his room. It was just his bed, his bedside table, his drawers, his mirror who tried talking to him, his trunk, and his owl stand for Apollo who rarely came to see him.

There was a _pop_! and Dobby was standing in front of him, once again in all those foul clothing. "Master Draco, sirs, you miss breakfast. I brings you some."

"Thank you, Dobby," was Draco's whispered reply as he sat up, rubbing his eyes wearily.

"Does Master Draco need anything?"

Draco lowered his eyes, and he didn't have to look in the mirror to know he had large bags under his eyes. "No, Dobby. I am fine."

"Yes, sir." The house-elf's voice was hesitant, and Draco could see him faltering.

"You may go."

Another _pop!_ later and Dobby was gone. Draco stood, ignoring the food on the plate as he had for the past five days.

His hand went to his bedside table and picked up the _Daily Prophet_ he had put on his table five days before, two days after the golden trio and the rest of the Weasley brood had disappeared. A day after they left the bird had come back and he was able to send the Mutt's letter to him, but now wished he hadn't.

_Arthur Weasley Attacked!_

He put the paper back down on the table, sick to his stomach. He hurried out of his room and into the bathroom where he retched up nothing but bile.

Food wouldn't stay down. Anything liquid made him queasy. He just stayed in his room or the common room.

There were no other Slytherin's there, and he could eat at any time, so he didn't ever see his godfather.

When he finished, he staggered into the common room, singing softly under his breath.

_Ferte in noctem animam meam_

_Illustrent stellae viam mean_

_Aspectu illo glorior_

_Dum capit nox diem_

_Cantate vitae canticum_

_Sine dolore actae_

_Dicite eis quos amabam_

_Me nunquam obliturum_

_Nunquam obliturum_

He had learned it when he was little, and the words flowed out of him slowly, somewhat faltering.

The translation was forever in his mind because his mother would sing a verse in latin and his father would then sing it in English. But eventually his father stopped singing and it was his mother's solemn voice that continued to sing to him at night.

Yet he could hear his father singing in his mind.

_Carry my soul into the night_

_May the stars light my way_

_I glory in the sight_

_As darkness takes the day_

_Sing a song, a song of life_

_Lived without regret_

_Tell the ones, the ones I loved_

_I never will forget_

_Never will forget_

He would never forget that he should have known more, said more, done more. Anything more. But he was a coward.

He sat in front of the fire, watching the flames move. The dancing light flashed around the room. The creatures in the lake never came near the glass. Malfoy didn't speak.

He was alone.

"Merry Christmas, Draco," he whispered forlornly. Malfoy didn't have to worry about getting him away from the twins. He had somehow done that to himself.

Lying down on the carpet, he placed his head on his arms and closed his eyes. He ignored the twinges in his stomach, the parched feeling in his throat, and let himself delve into the silence of the room.

* * *

Mr. Weasley was on his way to a full recovery, but the tension was still tangible. Hermione was focusing on something, Ron was staring blankly out a window, and one of the twins was furious with the other trying to calm him down, Sirius was singing loudly as if he didn't know what was going on, Mrs. Weasley was cooking to distract herself.

Harry just tried to find Pig.

The little owl had disappeared a few days before he had that vision. He shook his head and tried to block out Malfoy's voice, his warning.

He had to find Pig.

Loud pecking at the window caused everyone to freeze in the midst of what they were doing in order to look for what was causing the noise. A tiny owl was swaying side to side and hitting the glass with his wings, his beak, and his talons - all mostly by accident.

Well, Pig was found.

Sirius was the first to react. He raced forward and yanked the window open and pulled the owl into his arms and took the letter off.

Sirius manhandling Pig. Strange.

"Sirius, what's that?" Mrs. Weasley went over, but Sirius just waved a hand.

Pig took off flying.

"I have a penpal in the states."

Pig zoomed around the room.

"The states?"

Pig landed against Ron's chest.

"Yep! Gotta reply to this!"

Pig, focus on Pig.

But Pig was found, and so he had nothing to find, and nothing to take his mind off his vision and off of Malfoy.

Blasted way to spend Christmas.

* * *

After Sirius' departure up the stairs, Hermione shook it off and focused back on what was at hand. She was making lists. Her hair was pulled ruthlessly back so she could stare at the pieces of parchment in front of her without worrying about having to move strands out of her vision.

_Description and Characteristics of Pup_

_ 1) Description_

_a. Tan colored body_

_ b. White stripe around his throat_

_ c. White paws_

_2) Characteristics_

_ a. Demanding with twins_

_ b. Playful with Crooks_

_ c. Doesn't like people touching him other than the twins_

Hermione frowned down at the paper, her brows furrowed. There wasn't a lot to go off of. Finding Rita Skita was easier, for the simple reason was that Hermione _knew_ she was an animagus and she simply had to figure out what the reporter's form was. It was much simpler than the other way around.

With a huff, she pulled out another parchment and began to write down names.

_Students who are Possibly Animagi_

_ 1. Gryffindor - almost everyone was in the D.A._

_a. Kenneth Towler_

_b. Aamir Loonat_

_c. Jason Swan_

_d. Thomas Paley_

_e. Seamus Finnigan_

_ 2. Hufflepuffs - also a lot in the D.A._

_ a. Malcolm Preece_

_b. Wayne Hopkins_

_3. Ravenclaws_

_ a. Duncan Inglebee_

_ b. Jeremy Stretton_

_ c. Eddie Carmichael_

_ 4. Slytherins - don't know all the names of the upper class Slytherin's_

_a. Draco Malfoy_

_b. Theodore Nott_

Hermione lowered her head to the table and sighed. She really had her work cut out for her. The list was of only the people she _knew_. She didn't know all of the people the _twins_ knew, so she didn't even know if the actual person was on the list.

Banging her head, she groaned when Ron asked her if she was alright. "I'll be fine, Ron. I'm just tired and confused. I'm trying to figure something out."

She rose to her feet and gave him a tired smile..

Ron was an awesome friend, but she couldn't talk to him at that moment. She wouldn't be able to stop thinking of Mr. Weasley in the hospital room and knowing he was bit by Nagini. Her mind wouldn't come up with the words that Ron needed to hear, but what she could do was at least sit with him to let him know he wasn't alone.

So she grabbed her things and took them to where Ron was sitting. She sat next to him and set her things down - glad she had put a spell on it so others wouldn't be able to read exactly what she was writing.

Leaning against him, Hermione gave Ron an encouraging smile before going back to work.

She was going to figure it out. She narrowed her eyes, nodded, and began to list traits by the names of the people.

* * *

A/N And viola! The end of chapter 31. :D And I apologize for the very short chapter... And some amusing tidbit: this chapter refused to do anything that I wanted it to do. *pout* So it's basically a needed filler. lol


	32. Harder Than Expected

"You won't even look at me."

Sev's voice broke through Draco's silence. The boy was sitting in front of his godfather's desk, his eyes on the wood and had been focused there since he had first sat down. "I do not feel like having my mind blown apart while you attempt to tear my landscape down."

"You need the practice."

"That is true."

"Then look up."

"I will, but not today." Draco could feel the compulsion spell washing over him, but he was able to push that away as easily as brushing off a fly. Compared to the Imperius Curse, the Compulsion Charm was easy stuff. "You know that will not work on me. Now why do you want me here?"

A soft sigh escaped the elder man, and Draco had to force his eyes to stay locked on the desk. His muscles were clenched, and he had to concentrate on the little grooves hidden in the wood.

"You are here because of orders that I have received from Professor Dumbledore."

"And this has to do with me how?"

"I have to teach Potter Legilimens. However, it is my plan to get angry at the brat and send him out and tell him not to return."

Seeing where this was going, Draco calmly got to his feet and pointed to the door, "The usual spells are up, correct?"

Severus gave a nod of his head that Draco saw from the corner of his eye. He took a deep breath, but he could feel his body trembling.

Slamming his hands on the table he asked, his voice shaking, "Am I correct to say that you plan on doing something to put Potter in my hands?"

"You wanted to be put in a place of responsibility. So I -"

"I _never_ said that!" Draco's voice rose dramatically, his leash on his magic crumbling. "When did I ever _ask_ to be put into this position? All I want is to have something that resembles a childhood!"

He could feel his magic licking his skin, and he coated himself with it. Drew strength from it. "Who would _ever_ want to have to do what I have to do? You only know a portion of what I'm doing. Do you have any _idea_ what Dumbledore is making me do?"

"No, I -"

"I'm. Not. Done!" His magic lashed out at Severus, and when the man tried to say something, he couldn't. The man's mouth formed a frown, but he remained still. "The Dark Lord is having me spy on the Chosen One. You're jumping into my mind, tearing everything apart. Dumbledore has me alienating myself from Slytherin for '_house unity'_, reporting to him the stuff I learn from the Dark Lord you don't already know - which is nothing! - _and_ he wants me to get close to Umbridge! _Umbridge!_ And that's not even taking into account that I have to convince Blaise to get other Slytherins to go to the 'secret' D.A. meetings so that people start trusting us snakes. I have to get the Golden Boy to trust me, by telling him something the Dark Lord told me to tell him in order to spy on said Golden Boy. This isn't what a fifteen year old should have to deal with! I'm going to go insane!"

Draco's body was shuddering. His breath came out in ragged gasps. His magic whirled around him, flaring his robes and hair around. The magic reached his eyes and turned them a brilliant blue.

But then it was all sucked in, and the tired boy was back. His eyes became shadowed with bags under them. His shoulders, which had been pushed back, slumped forward. His face and stomach seemed to sink inwards. His head dropped so his hair hid him from view.

"My apologies, Sev."

He turned to leave, but when he tried to turn the handle, he found it wouldn't budge. "Are you finished with your tantrum?"

"I have already apologized, Sev. What more do you want?"

"The second half of this meeting."

"You are not jumping into my mind right now."

"You have already agreed that you need the practice."

"It is logical that I need the practice. It is also logical to not wear down my mind to where it won't even function."

"You have had the holidays off."

Draco refrained from stomping his foot and refused to turn around. "I need a few more days, Sev. Just give me that."

"The next time you receive a missive, you will continue your training."

"Of course."

The door handle moved, and Draco quickly left Sev's office and went to an alcove and pulled out his diary. He stared at the cover for a long while before it lit up, nearly blinding him for a moment.

Flipping it open, he found a very short message.

_Blondie,_

_c&gr now_

With a sigh, Draco threw the diary in his backpack, which he pulled onto his shoulder. He shuffled through the people, keeping his eyes down and when he could, he entered a secret passage and put on his disillusionment charm.

He had been avoiding the twins since school had started up five days earlier. He hadn't received a message until the day before, but he ignored it.

Draco had no idea how to act in front of them.

When he stood in front of the door, he found himself trembling. But then he straightened up and pushed the door open.

The room he entered was bare except for the wood floor. It was circular and small. There was nowhere to hide.

* * *

Finally. The door closed and George turned. There, standing before him, was Draco. The piece of shit who hadn't warned them about their father.

It looked like borrowing the map from Harry hadn't been necessary. The boy showed up without them having to go find him.

Fred had turned with him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but George merely shrugged it off.

"What the _hell_ is your problem, Malfoy?" His words came out as a bellow, and the shorter boy shrank back a little from the sound.

Anger that was held in over the break had hardened until it was a tight knot in his stomach. Fury raged in his eyes, and not even his twin would slow him.

"After every damn thing we've done for you, this is how you repay us? We changed our hair color, kept this a secret, let you into our common room, we took an _Unbreakable Vow_ for you! Then you turn around and do this? What the _hell, _Malfoy?"

The blonde didn't speak. He didn't look up. His hands were gripping his arms that he hugged to himself. The _ass_ didn't have the _courtesy_ to look him in the eye!

"He might not have -"

"Stop it!" George whirled on his brother, who just sighed. They had this argument all holiday. But if Draco had known that Harry would be having the visions, then he should have been able to tell them what the vision was about! "Stop protecting this ball of slime! He could have warned us about Dad! He could have said something and we could have saved him from the pain."

"We don't -"

"It's true," Draco's voice broke through Fred's argument. "I could have warned you of Nagini."

Spinning around, George sprinted forward and tackled Draco to the ground. He punched Draco in the face over and over, the blonde doing nothing to stop him.

As soon as the first hit connected, the younger boy spasmed under him. Again and again he punched until the first cry left the blonde and he was hauled back by Fred.

"Let me go! He deserves more than that!"

"Don't you remember?"

"Remember what?"

"What happens when he's put in a situation where pains involved?"

"I don't care!"

"Look!"

Draco was twitching on the floor. His eyes were squeezed shut. His fingers were digging holes in his hands. His mouth was parted so that wheezes of air escaped him. His ribs were sticking out of his stomach, as if he hadn't eaten for days.

What the hell was going on?

George's anger diminished when Fred rushed over to Draco. His twin fell to his knees and brought the boy into his arms.

"No," Draco murmured. "My. Fault."

"Shh, gotta get you some help." Fred stood with Draco hanging loosely in his arms.

"No. Can't."

What were they supposed to do? George frantically looked around. Fred had a determined look on his face and Draco had his eyes cracked open to glare at who was holding him.

A couch appeared with plush looking cushions with a chair in front of it.

"Lay me down," Draco managed to whisper out. "It'll pass. Soon enough."

Fred twitched and a frown marred his face, but he carefully walked to the couch. He stretched out on it, leaning against the armrest and stretching one leg out the full length of the cushions. His other leg was propped on the ground, so when he settled Draco between his legs he would be able to support the boy and not have the blonde tumbling to the ground.

"Go away."

"Nope, staying here, Blondie."

George frowned and went over to the chair and sat, but when he was about to start talking, Fred beat him to it. "Don't. I'm tired of hearing you say the same damned thing over and over again without any proof."

"I'm sure what he says will be lies anyway."

"You don't know that!"

"And you -"

"Veritaserum."

"-can't prove that... what?" George looked down at Draco, who was trying to regulate his breathing.

"Go get... Veritaserum. In his... storage room. Can't miss it. Sev labels... everything."

There was a pregnant pause, and the next thing George knew was that a book was hitting him in the head. He fell off his chair as Fred chuckled humorlessly. "Now look what you're doing. Making Blondie -"

"Stop taking his side!" George jumped to his feet, his anger back. "You heard him, its his fault! He admitted to it!"

"People blame themselves for the stupidest things!"

"Just because you -"

"Don't say anymore," Fred's voice came out in a harsh whisper, his eyes hard.

"Go get the Veritaserum."

Fred sighed and let his head fall backwards. "We've raided his storage room enough times for you to get away with it. Go get it and we'll know for sure and put this whole blasted thing behind us."

George got up and stalked to the door, glaring at it.

"George," Draco called after him. "Bring... the Golden Trio, too."

It wasn't until he was entering Snape's storage room did he realize that Draco knew who he was without having to look at the necklace.

* * *

"Why isn't Fred here, George?" Ron asked as he kept up with his brother. "You usually don't go anywhere without each other, even if you're fighting."

"He's watching someone for us."

"Who?" Harry asked, jumping to the side when someone rushed past them with an apologetic wave.

"You'll see."

Harry frowned, but didn't say anything. After all, they were almost to the Room of Requirement anyway, so most of his questions would be answered. Though he was almost positive who else was going to be in the room.

Hermione hadn't said anything when George told them to follow him. She just packed her things away and motioned for George to lead them wherever they had to go. Which was just plain weird.

They entered the room and the three younger Gryffindors froze at the sight before them. Draco Malfoy was asleep on Fred Weasley - who was also asleep. His eyes were closed, his hand a fist on Fred's chest, his face shallow and beginning to show ugly bruises.

Harry saw George flinch as he neared his brother and gently shook him. "Oi, Fred, wake up."

Fred groaned as he opened his eyes. "What took you so long? Forget how to get past some wards without me?"

"No, since the maps here with you, I had to search these three out. Took longer than I expected." George paused, studying Malfoy. "Looks like shit."

"You did it."

"I did, didn't I? Now we'll find out if what I did was worth it.'

Confused, Harry watched in silence as Fred began to shake Malfoy.

"What the bloody hell is going on?!" Ron's shout had the blonde jumping to his feet and drawing his wand. But as soon as he moved, a soft gasp escaped him and he fell to his knees on the ground. His wand, however, was still leveled at Ron.

"What?" Malfoy looked up and saw who he was pointing at and stashed his wand away.

As soon as it was away, Fred reached forward and pulled Malfoy back in his lap - who didn't bother complaining or _anything_.

"We're going to get answers, Little Bro," George finally answered Ron's question and pulled out a vial. "With this."

"The only thing that will get you answers is Veritaserum," Hermione finally spoke up, stepping forward. "And it's illegal to use on unwilling participants. Though, I suppose we could make an exception this one time."

"Sorry to break it... to you, Granger. I came up... with the idea." Malfoy reached forward and unstoppered the cork and, before anyone could stop him, let three drops touch his tongue. He gave a shudder and put the cork back on, handing it back to George. "Now, ask your questions."

"Is it your fault my father got hurt?"

"Nagini hurt your father, not I."

George nodded and asked, "Who else was there at the time?"

"I don't know."

"What's your middle name."

"Wait... wh - Lucius." The word was pulled from Malfoy, who just blinked at George. "What?"

"Testing to make sure it's working."

"Of course it is, Sev was the one who made the blasted potion."

"What did you mean it's your fault?"

"I should have given you more warning," he whispered. "I should have told you that someone in the order would be attacked, I should have warned you that Nagini - the Dark Lord's snake - was going to be attacking an order member. I should have told you, that way they would have been prepared. If I hadn't been so vague, then -"

"Did you know it was going to be our father?"

"No, but -"

"Did you know where the attack was going to happen?"

"No, but -"

"Did you know when the attack was going to happen?"

"No, but -"

"Then why the hell were you saying it's your fault that he was hurt?!"

"Because I left information out!" Malfoy shouted back at George, but winced when he tried to stand. Fred pulled him back down until Malfoy was held firmly in place. "If I hadn't, his injuries might not have been so grievous."

Harry finally shook himself from his shock and asked, "Uh... why are we here?"

"Because I told them to bring you, Potter, that's why," Malfoy snapped, not bothering to look at Harry. "You can ask your questions in a minute."

"Do you enjoy going home to your Death Eater family?"

Malfoy blinked before he shrugged, "I enjoy spending time with my family less and less. After all, I'm not from a _normal_ family." He went back to ignoring Ron.

Hermione let the first giggle leave her before she quickly got herself under control. "Awesome spell work, boys. How are you making this work? You're using real Veritaserum."

"It works because I'm not fake, Granger. Veritaserum doesn't work on someone who isn't human, and it doesn't work correctly on someone who is altered to be someone they aren't." Malfoy sighed, "Now be quiet and let the hellion finish his questioning."

"I'm done," George whispered, sitting in the chair and dropping his head in his hands.

Malfoy rolled his eyes and focused on Harry. "Now ask your questions before you run out of time."

"Is what you said earlier true?"

"Yes, everything I've said so far in tonight's meeting has been true." Malfoy pursed his lips and continued, "If you want legit answers, Potter, you need to ask specific questions that I can't get around."

Harry squirmed before Ron blurted out, "What the hell is he talking about?"

"I'm talking about the questions that Potter wants to ask."

Ron caught on that Malfoy was there, under Veritaserum, and couldn't possibly by lying. "How's it feel to be forced to do things you don't like, Malfoy?"

"Like how I feel everyday, Weasley," was Malfoy's calm answer.

That shut everyone up, except for Hermione who jumped in. "Do you know Pup?"

The twins grew rigid, and Draco closed his eyes as he leaned against Fred, "Yes."

"Do you know he's an animagus?"

"Yes."

"Do you know who it is?"

"... Yes..."

"That's enough, Hermione." Fred jumped in, glaring at the girl.

"Why?" Harry asked, finally jumping back into the conversation.

"You're wasting the few minutes left asking about something that is irrelevant to this conversation."

"Yes, but -" Hermione began, but Fred cut her off.

"You can ask later, Hermione."

"But, it'll be worn off by then."

"So it will. Harry, your questions."

Harry looked over at George, who was still looking at his lap and refused to look at Malfoy. "Um... is what you said about the visions true?"

"Yes."

"Is there anything more specific that you were told about them?"

"I was told that the first vision will be of Nagini attacking an Order member. Most of the visions you see will be true, though the specifics of them were not spoken except that there's a hallway. The last vision, however, will be false. In it will be Sirius Black captured. Where, when, why, and how I wasn't told. I was just told that it is false."

"You could have been told only those specifics, and then allow yourself to take Veritaserum and prove that what you are saying is true to gain our trusts. Is this true?" Hermione asked, finally backing away from Pup questions.

"No."

She deflated and sighed, "Oh."

Malfoy gave another shudder and muttered, "That's it."

Ron hurried forward, took the vial of Veritaserum, and held it out to Malfoy. "Go on, drink some more."

Malfoy rose an eyebrow, "My turn is over. You can drink all that you'd like, Weaslebee."

Ron was turning an interesting shade of purple, so Harry hurried forward and grabbed the vial and handed it back to George. "I-I think we've enough information right now, Ron."

Hermione nodded, her eyes on Malfoy, a strange gleam in her eye, but Malfoy didn't seem too worried. Too confused and full of questions that couldn't be answered, Harry led the way out of the Room of Requirement and towards the Common Room. When he sat before the fire, he looked at Ron and Hermione. "Do either of you know why that happened?"

They both shrugged, and Hermione's frown turned into a grin. "But I think I know who Pup is."

* * *

Draco sighed, nestling into Fred's arms. His eyes were beginning to close when George spoke. "Why did you say it was your fault?"

"Because it was... at least partially. To the extent where something could have been changed for the better."

Fred patted his hair a few times before dropping his arms around the blonde's waist. Draco was too tired to care.

"But it wasn't your fault it was our dad at that time. It wasn't your fault that you didn't know who was going to be attacked, or where the attack was going to happen." George sighed. "I'm sorry."

Draco shook his head, beginning to drift off. "I deserved it. I deserve more."

Fred looked down at the blonde with a soft, wistful smile in place as the blonde finally slipped into sleep. Then he looked up at his brother with a scowl, "Why didn't you listen to me? I told you he's more insecure than we first thought!"

"This is insecurity?"

Fred tightened his grip around the Slytherin. "Georgie, look at him. He's trying to take the blame for something that wasn't his fault to begin with. Did you not see how bad he looks - before you beat him to a bloody pulp? He's too thin and he has bags under his eyes."

George nodded, slipping from his chair and lowered himself to the floor to rest his head on the couch. "I'm sorry, and I'll even tell him that, but you know he won't accept it."

Fred tapped a finger on his arm. "Yeah, the bugger."

"Freddie, we need to break this mask of his."

Looking down at his twin, Fred nodded. "It seems it's going to be harder than we first expected."

* * *

A/N Well... _FINALLY_ the Golden Trio gets to see Draco and not Malfoy. It only took 32 freaking chapters. The story wasn't even supposed to be this long. lololol


	33. Never Gaining What is Wanted

His neck was sore. His hand was cramped. His body was overly warm. Yet, he was strangely comfortable. And he was still very, very tired.

So he nestled his head deeper into his pillow and kept his eyes tightly closed. When his pillow didn't budge, he turned his head pressed his forehead harder against his pillow. When it _still_ wouldn't give, Draco raised an arm and pounded on it once and hissed when his hand began to smart.

"Stupid, stupid pillow," he muttered, his brain still muddled by sleep. "Why won't you be comfy? Stop it."

His pillow started moving up and down in quick, jerky movements. There was a low rumbling sound, but Draco just frowned and slammed his fist into his pillow again with a growl. "Stop it!"

A loud cackling came from somewhere nearby and Draco cracked an eye open. The only thing he saw clearly was an auburn head. Irritated, he fumbled around until his free hand was able to grab something, and he tossed whatever it was at the imbecile who laughed at him. "Shut it."

When he heard the thunk, he gave a sharp nod and _finally_ found a comfortable spot. However, his body was starting to wake and he gave a loud groan. "Dammit," he whined. "I finally got sleeeep." He threw both his arms around his head to block out the feeble light in the room, flexing his fingers that had been grasping some sort of material.

His pillow shifted, but when Draco went to groan again, he felt something brush through his hair. With a content sigh, the boy relaxed and basked in the feeling. It had been forever since someone had ever done that.

That was when he decided that he was still sleeping.

"Oi! He threw something at my head!" Draco's eyes flew open and saw George sitting on a couch right in front of him. The twin was rubbing his head, but when he saw the younger boy looking at him he grinned. "Hey Blondie! You've been sleeping pretty much all day."

"Wha... what?" Draco just stared at him blankly.

"Yeah, all day! You wouldn't let Fred move at all. It's a good thing we needed sleep, too." George grinned apologetically.

"Fred?"

"Aww, you don't even know where you are, do you?"

"My heart is broken into a million pieces," the voice came from under Draco, who immediately froze, but it didn't seem as if the voice realized it. "Shattered, destroyed beyond repair! We spent the whole night in each others arms and you don't even remember!"

No, he didn't. He didn't remember anything past the moment that George jumped him. Slowly, very slowly, Draco turned his head to see what his pillow was.

His face went a bright red and his eyes went huge and his mouth fell open and a small squeak escaped his throat. He couldn't help it, his actions were perfectly acceptable seeing as Fred's face was inches from his.

"Georgie! His face is red!" Fred moved closer and Draco let his arm swing out to catch the offending hellion in the face. The younger boy tried jumping off the couch, but since his legs were tangled with Fred's, he flailed and smashed into the ground with a groan.

George just cackled again and ignored the glare that was thrown his way by the blonde. "You two will be the death of me," Draco moaned, rubbing his head as he sat up. "And why are you suddenly so chummy with me?"

"Eehhh..." George ducked his head, his ears turning a light tinge of pink. Draco looked over his shoulder at Fred, but he was glaring at his twin so Draco didn't get his answer there. "I'm sorry."

Whipping his head around, Draco felt his mouth drop for the second time that day. "Wait... what? The last thing I remember is you jumping on me and pounding my face in..."

"That's it? Nothing afterwards?" Fred rolled off the couch so he was lying next to Draco, his long legs still on the furniture behind them. "Why not?"

"Didn't I explain what happens when I'm in pain?"

The two shook their heads. "No, we had to..."

"... piece things together."

Draco sighed and said, "Whenever I get into any type of pain - be it physical or mental - I go through what I did this past summer." He paused, looking down at his hand that was still smarting, "Though I think it has to be a certain level of pain..."

"What did you go through last summer?" Both asked, both serious.

Draco frowned, keeping his eyes firmly on the ground. "What happened after you beat me, George?"

"No, Blondie," Fred's voice was quiet, but it held no room for argument.

He was too accustomed to obeying to not obey the order; Draco answered slowly, the words seeming to stick in his throat. "Sev took me to the Dark Lord. He was not pleased with his Inner Circle. Since I was there, I was the perfect demonstration to show what will happen if anyone else would disobey. It kept my parents in line and taught me that no one will be exempt from the pain."

"He cruico'd you?" George whispered.

Draco brought his knees to his chest and placed his chin on top of them. His eyes were a bit glazed, and his mind took him back seventh months.

_He was once again surrounded by black figures with masks. His own face was covered and his body hidden. Something obscuring his vision. Names being called out. Being tossed around. Burning heat. Searing pain. Harsh rocks biting his flesh. Those hideous creatures. His father. His screams. His pleas. Nothing worked, but then he slipped into blackness. The wish that he would die._

"Blondie!"

Shaking his head, Draco looked over to Fred. "What?"

"Are you ok?"

He looked down at himself. His fingers were stark white and his body trembled. "I'll be fine."

"What did they do to you?" George was suddenly sitting in front of Draco and the boy cringed, backing away. There was a strange light in the twin's eye, and when Draco looked over at Fred he saw the same thing there. Yet he didn't know exactly what it was.

"I don't remember."

"Draco, stop. We know that's a blatant lie." Fred moved to sit next to his brother so Draco was facing them both. "Tell us who did what and we'll -"

"No," Draco snapped. "You two would do something stupid."

"Most definitely," the two hellions didn't even bother denying it. "Now tell us, Draco."

He sighed, closing his eyes seconds before his head snapped upwards. "I get it."

The two narrowed their eyes at him, "You do?"

Draco waved a hand, "Not you two." He brought up a hand to his neck and ran a finger over his necklace. "I get it."

"Blondie... umm... wanna explain whatcha doing?"

Tapping a finger on the jewelry, Draco nodded. "I received a gift from my parents a few years ago. It's a necklace no one can see that warms when someone is near that won't do anything against me if they knew everything."

The two twins gave tight smiles, "Does it warm for us?"

"No."

"Ah."

"Oh, shut it. You have your own ideas of what should happen. I can tell you something, but if you think you could do something to help you would do something else."

"Of course we would."

"So this necklace only gives me good acquaintances, not... never mind."

"What were you going to say, Blondie?" George scooted closer, but Fred slapped his head.

"Focus, Georgie. What did they do to you?"

"You won't let it go, will you?"

"No."

Draco scowled, but he held up a finger when the hellions were going to argue. "I will tell you what happened, but I will _not_ tell you who did it."

"Why? We could make it seem as -"

"No," Draco interrupted Fred. "They are members of the Dark Lord's Inner Circle, and only those in it - and very few others - know who they are. If they are suddenly targeted, the Dark Lord will immediately know who to start questioning first. It's too much of a risk."

"You will tell us eventually."

"_Fine_." If the war was ever over, that was when he would tell him.

The twins nodded and waited, staring unblinking at Draco.

"Crucio, Diffindo, Impediment, Furnunculus," his voice was devoid of emotion, and Draco looked over their shoulders to look at the wall. "A slowly burning stool, a head crusher, the Drink of Despair, and a flaming whip."

"All at once?" His voice was strained and low as if Fred was holding back his anger.

"One at a time." Draco frowned and looked at the hellions. "What happened after you jumped me?"

"I really am sorry," George whispered.

Draco rolled his eyes and continued to push the conversation towards safer topics. "Well? What happened?"

"You asked for Veritaserum," Fred said, a finger playing on the carpet, "and three Gryffindors..."

"I did... what?"

The two shrugged and answered, "asked for Veritaserum and the Golden Trio."

"No, I wouldn't have done that!" Draco jumped to his feet. "I would have told them everything they asked! No, no, no, no, _dammit!_" He paced back and forth before pointing a finger at them. "Do you have _any_ idea of how long it took me to get here?" He slashed his hand down, cutting off any answer they had. "Don't answer that, you hellions. You have _no_ idea how long it took me to get here!"

"Then tell us."

The two were looking up at him, brown eyes hard and... understanding. Draco shook his head and crossed his arms. "Not yet. I'm... no. Not yet."

"Then we'll wait." Draco stared at them, shocked. Did he hear correctly?

"What?"

"We'll wait," Fred repeated with a shrug.

"Yeah, Blondie, we've been with you this long. We'll wait until you tell us."

"Or we'll just pry it out of you eventually."

The door to the Come and Go Room opened and a voice floated towards them, "Wonder what we'll learn today?"

Draco turned, wide eyed, towards the door and at a group of Ravenclaws who had yet to look inside.

* * *

_Shit!_ Fred looked drastically around. Draco wasn't doing anything. He seemed to be in shock.

_We need another room, dammit. Another room would be nice!_

As if reading his mind, another door appeared in the wall right beside them, taking the place of the couch. Acting quickly, Fred grabbed Draco's arm and tugged him inside the door and slammed it shut, not caring if the others heard.

"What am I going to do?" Draco whispered. "Did they _see_ me? They couldn't have!"

"Blondie! Get a grip on yourself, they didn't see you or they would be screaming bloody murder." Fred muttered, casting a lumos to see where they had ended up.

A closet. A tiny, intimate, enclosed closet. With just the two of them crammed in there. Draco standing before him, his hair in disarray and eyes still just a little bit sleepy. Just what his libido wanted.

Then those gorgeous eyes latched onto his. Fred pressed his back tightly against the door. "Unless you want to get caught, I'd suggest changing."

Draco opened and closed his mouth before glaring and changing.

Seconds later Pup was sitting in front of him, head tilted to the side. A short, sharp bark had Fred chuckling and kneeling down with his hands held open. "Well, come on, then. You can spy on the Golden kiddies some more."

With a sniff, Pup walked forward with his tail held high and ears perked up. However, when Fred rose, Pup curled up in a tight ball. A huge yawn covered the fox's face his tiny, sharp teeth showed with a small pink tongue barely visible before Pup gave a large twitch and laid his head down on Fred's fingers.

"You can't sleep there, Pup." Fred opened the door and entered, ignoring the confused looks from the Ravenclaws. "I have to use my wand and not worry about you falling off my hands."

Pup merely turned his head and gave another, albeit soft, bark.

"You choose today to be lazy?" Fred gave a small chuckle and placed Pup on his head, who instantly curled into a tight ball. Pup's breathing was making Fred's hair move slightly, his tiny paws moving around, and his nose sometimes nudging Fred's head.

"Oi, isn't this the room from-" the voice became muffled as another voice took over, a smacking sound echoing around the room.

"The first time we visited to see if it would work?" Hermione asked loudly.

Fred grinned and turned to face the Golden Trio. "I'm sure it is."

George came up beside him and wrapped an arm around his twin's waist. "It is a splendid room after all."

Pup let out a few high barks, sounding like laughter, and the three younger Gryffindors all looked up to stare at the fox on Fred's head.

"We need to talk," Hermione continued, who had her hand firmly on Ron's blabbering mouth with a smile on her face. "Ginny, could you keep an eye on who comes and goes?"

Without much thought, the room gradually changed to the one that was used during D.A.: cushions, books, and lots of space. In the back, near where Fred, George, and Pup stood, was another door.

Looking over at the door, Fred couldn't help but hope it was a larger space behind it than the one before.

"Sure thing!" Ginny walked forward, hand on her hip and a confused smile in place. "Can I hold Pup while you guys talk?"

"No can do, Sis. He's gonna stay with us."

Giving a huff, she blew a kiss to Pup and walked back over to Luna as a group of Hufflepuffs walked in.

Fred watched as Ron and Harry gave a tiny shudder. Grinning, he went to the door and held it open, "After you, lady and gents."

Everyone entered and as soon as the door was closed and wards up, Hermione released Ron's mouth. He immediately pointed at the fox and cried, "You got my sister to blow you a kiss. Nasty image, that!"

Hermione shook her head with a sigh, "What he means is that we know who you are. You might as well come out."

Pup gave a sharp bark and nestled deeper in Fred's hair, making the twin snort. "Don't think he's going to move. He's exhausted."

"Oh, come off it, guys, we just want to see if we're right," Ron snapped.

"Bro, you haven't even mentioned who you think it is."

"Malfoy," the three replied in unison.

"Hermione figured it out, though," Harry admitted.

"Gents, she's the one who figures almost everything out," George pointed out. The two had the decency to blush, but they stood their ground.

"If we just admit it's Draco will you let it go?"

"No."

Fred reached his hands up and tried to pry the fox off, but he got nipped at. "Sorry, guys, we'll just have to wait until after the meeting to do anything. He's refusing to budge." A grin was on his face and he changed route and simply patted the tiny head. Pup gave a tiny hiss before falling silent.

"Fine, after the meeting," Hermione agreed.

* * *

He hadn't even agreed to transform in front of the three. Fred had to go and agree _for_ him. But he didn't see any reason why he _should_. And how did Hermione even figure out he was an animagus?

With a soft growl, Draco realized it must have been from the day before. The day when he had supposedly drank Veritaserum and asked for the Golden Trio.

Merlin.

"Alright, they're all gone." Harry said, arms crossed across his chest. "Change, Malfoy."

Jumping from his comfortable position in Fred's hands, he leapt to floor. Even before he touched the ground, he was back in his original form, his smirk firmly in place. "How's your cat, Granger? Or should I say cats?"

Her face immediately was tinged with pink.

"You bit me!" Ron sputtered, pointing a finger at Draco.

"You tried to pet me," Draco sniffed, his attention once again turning to Harry. "What do you want?"

"Why did you let us come last night?"

He didn't even _know_ what happened the night before. The twins had been interrupted from explaining by the group of Ravenclaws entering for D.A. practice. "My reasons are my own, Potter!"

"Well _you_ were the one who asked _us_ there, Ferret!"

"Where did you even come up with that atrocious nickname anyway?" Draco shuddered. "I prefer being a fox any day."

"A fox my sister blew a kiss to!"

"I didn't _ask_ for her to do that, Weaslebee. It's not like I want your sister blowing a kiss at me." Deciding to stop pushing Ron's buttons, he turned back to Hermione. "You never did answer my question, Granger. How is your cat? I haven't seen him in a while."

"Wait... That was you in the common room?" Harry and Ron exclaimed while Hermione sighed and shook her head.

"The first time was purely the hellions fault." Draco pointed to the twins who just continued to grin like idiots. "And I can't believe I keep being surprised by you two. It seems as if your logic skills are decreasing each year." While the two sputtered, he continued. "Granger, your cat?"

"He's fine..."

"Why should we trust you?" Harry asked, green eyes narrowed.

"Are we going to have to go through this every time we meet?" Draco stared at Harry, finally letting a bit of annoyance color his voice. "It doesn't matter what I say, even if I say it under Veritaserum. You won't trust me. And because of that, you or your godfather could be harmed due to your lack of proper Legilimens training, which would suppress these visions."

"And you are so skilled?"

Narrowing his eyes, Draco weighed his options. A slow, large grin overtook his features as he nodded, "I am very skilled in the art. Shall I prove it?"

Harry jutted his chin up, "Do your worst!"

"Harry, no!"

But Hermione's call was too late. Draco met Harry's gaze and threw himself into the boy's mind. The wall he encountered was weak and filled with crumbling holes. He easily wormed his way in and quickly found the memory he was looking for and something else he wasn't expecting.

When he pulled out, his grin was still in place as Harry dropped to his knees in front of Draco. He didn't feel bad for jumping into Harry's head; he _had_ asked.

"You're the one who's supposed to defeat the Dark Lord? A mere _boy_ who can't keep _me_ out of his head? Don't make me laugh." Draco strode forward, pity and anger blooming in him.

_He's weak._

Never before had he agreed with Malfoy, but if didn't he would be lying.

Hermione and Ron rushed forward, but Draco grabbed hold of his wand and flicked his wrist. The two went flying away, and the twins mouths were wide open.

Draco towered over Harry, a sneer in place. His robes were swaying gently with his movements, and his pale face was etched in anger. His sunken eyes blazed with magic. "How _dare _you. You're training other kids when you need it more! You hate me for the simple reason that I _insulted_ you before we even started here. You're just a sullen boy who's trying to figure his way in life, and hates his _destiny._"

"Blondie..." George whispered, but Fred grabbed his shoulder and shook his head.

"You will die, Potter. If you meet the Dark Lord how you are now, you will _die._"

"I know that!" Harry finally regained his voice, but Draco wouldn't have it.

"Then do something about it!" He whirled around and pointed his wand at Hermione and Ron who were running towards him, their own wands drawn. "Don't interrupt me!" He snarled. He waved his hand and the two were wrapped up tightly in ropes and gags in their mouths. Another flick and their wands were flown into his hands. Instead of keeping them, he thrust them at the hellions, not wanting to touch them.

He faced Harry again, hands clenched tightly. "You have people you can ask for help! McGonagall would teach you if you just _paid attention_ and asked. Dumbledore would train you if you went to him and called him a coward! That would knock sense into him! Your mangy godfather would too if you asked the right questions."

Taking a deep breath, Draco reined in his temper. He cringed, he already said too much, but he couldn't leave it there. "You say you're weak, Potter, and you admit that you will die, but you aren't _trying_." He turned his back on Harry and strode towards the door. "Professor Snape is going to purposefully make you fail at legilimens. If you want to save your skin and your godfather's," he turned around one last time. "Come find me."

With that he left, releasing the spells holding Hermione and Ron. As the door closed behind him, Draco knew he had said things he shouldn't have, but he found he just didn't care anymore. He was too tired.

Tired of everything.

He put on his disillusionment spell and entered the passageway near the Fat Lady. He sank down and sat with a sigh.

He didn't want the responsibilities. He wished he was anyone but who he was. He wanted to get away from everything. He just wanted it to end.

But he knew that wasn't going to happen no matter how much he wanted it to.

* * *

A/N And look, the twins finally know what happened that summer. wow... that was 13 chapters ago... o.O weird to think about, huh? Well... it is to me. XD

Now you know who Fred likes *rolls eyes* not that it hasn't been obvious. sheesh, Fred. And you get to see how a sleep deprived Draco acts like when he is woken from his day long nap wanting more sleep time. haha.

Draco is not uber powerful, FYI. He's been raised by Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy to _attempt_ to deceive the Dark Lord and to survive in anyway possible. He has waaaaaay more training than your average pureblood or halfblood. So he's going to be more powerful than pretty much anyone at school whose a student; he has to be. BUT! If he went against someone in the Inner Circle or more of the trained Death Eaters, he would have a hard time fighting them. I just wanted to say that so you guys don't think I'm making a super Draco. :D

That's all. Hope you guys liked the chapter!


	34. Take it With Your Own Hands

A/N Look, a long chapter! W00! It wasn't supposed to be, but some things happened, and other things popped up, and the characters would insist that I do something else. Lol. I totally blame the twins.

* * *

Wrapped tight in a fur coat, Draco brought his arms around his body to bring the garment as close around his body as he could manage. It was _freezing_, but that was probably because it was nearing three in the morning and it was only February. The disillusionment charm did nothing to warm him, and his warming charm wasn't any good.

His booted feet crunched against the snow even as small snowflakes fluttered to the ground to cover his trail. For once, he had given in and found some well hidden muggle clothing and wore them. He didn't have his robes on.

The clothing felt claustrophobic after wearing loose robes for so long, but it felt good to wear them again. The washed out blue jeans clung to his legs, and the thick material of the sweater moved along his skin. It was rough and imperfect and he loved it.

Once he crossed the gate, he headed towards the area he had shown Viktor. Viktor. Draco's eyes widened before he sighed. He needed to reply to the letter.

Hopefully he wouldn't forget.

Each breath he took in was like sucking down freezing water. There wasn't that much wind, but his face was still tinged pink.

He walked down the path towards the waterfall, his mind on who the toad was getting rid of. Trelawny was the first teacher who Umbridge got rid of - which he had no sympathy for, she was a fraud of a teacher. However, Firenze the centaur - the new professor who took over Divination - was an interesting choice by Dumbledore. Next on Umbridge's radar was Hagrid - who could... _somewhat_ teach if he wasn't busy risking the lives of students.

At the moment, Hagrid was on probation. Everything he did was monitored. Earlier that week Draco had seen the Golden Trio go over to Hagrid's and try to console the half-giant, but he doubted that it did any good.

As he turned the last corner, he saw that the water had frozen over. Yet, when he got close enough to look, he was able to see fish swimming lazily underneath the surface. He took off the disillusionment charm and sat on a large rock, content with just watching the fish.

They swam over and under each other. Scales barely touching, their fins propelling them forwards. Their bodies were elegant, and their movements easy. Little bubbles escaped their open mouths every once in awhile, and ripples of water followed their wake.

It would be easy to break the ice, capture one of them, and then kill it. Much like the Dark Lord could do to any of his followers. If he messed up in some way, he could get himself - and others - killed. One little slip up - like if he brushed up too close to someone - it would give them the chance to torture Draco.

Sighing, Draco leaned backwards to rest on his palms. After the war, though, what would he do if he managed to live? He was almost certain that he would be marked before the end. He would be marked forever evil, and he would never have the ability to prove his worth. People would remember who he was at school and not give him the opportunity to show his true self.

He wasn't even sure if he would be able to take the mask all the way off anymore. The last time had been in third year... or maybe it was second... Draco couldn't remember.

Or maybe it was when he woke in the Come and Go Room and he had been too exhausted to even think of going through the motions.

Those hellions were able to push his buttons.

"Mrrow"

The light meow had Draco turning with a smile in place. There, sitting on the ground not five feet away, was Crookshanks. His smushed face and fluffy body hadn't changed one bit.

Draco straightened up and moved over to the cat to crouch in front of him. "Hello there. Haven't seen you in a while, hmm? Hermione never answered my question completely when I asked her, though I suppose it's the others' fault because they kept on interrupting. They're quite rude, aren't they?"

Feeling a bit foolish, Draco sat after he cast another warming charm around him. However, it wasn't too strong as it was a spell he never practiced much. But he still sat and he continued to speak, "They're also quite dense. Ron doesn't know when to shut his trap, and Harry doesn't know when to open his."

Crookshanks tilted his head before he went to Draco's lap and plopped down on it with a purr. Idly Draco used a single finger to brush around the cat's head, the purring amplifying. "You know, they have so many opportunities they can grasp. All they need to do is ask. They just have to look and they could find _someone _who would want to help."

He looked up at the sky. Millions of stars dotted the skies. Snow ladened the branches of trees. His breath still came out as white streams. "Or maybe they're just blind to what they have. Or it's because I have so few options that I see all of theirs."

Why did beautiful things come at a price? Why did anything good have to be fought for and clung to? Why couldn't something just be? "I want out, Crookshanks. If I live through all of this, I don't want anything to do with Britain. I'll move to the United States. The people are all rude and have disgusting table manners, but no one will know me."

Draco stared in the direction of the castle barely visible, his body shivering. "I won't miss much. I won't miss the mansion, I won't miss the castle, I won't miss the winters, I won't miss those nasty looks, I won't miss the pressures and demands."

He smiled down at the cat who had his large eyes fixated on Draco. "I will miss you, though. And, don't ever tell them this, but I'll miss the hellions. I think that's it, though. I doubt I'll miss my parents. I haven't been with them for so long, I'm not even sure how they were before all of this happened. I can't remember how they used to talk or walk or act without the masks."

Crookshanks gave a short meow and tilted his head to the side. Draco scratched the cat's back, chuckling when Crookshanks arched into his touch. "I suppose I could ask the hellions if they wanted to come with me, even though I already know their answer. Their family is here, their friends are here, their joke shop will eventually be here as well. I'm just... a passing puzzle to them. As soon as they finish inspecting me, they'll leave."

Draco stood, Crookshanks firmly in his arms where the cat went about purring. With assured steps, Draco headed back towards the castle. "I don't know why I'm even talking. You probably don't understand a word I'm saying."

When the castle was easily seen Draco put his disillusionment spell back on and also on Crookshanks. He crossed the bridge and quickly entered through the doors. When he stood in front of the Grand Staircase, he placed the cat down and removed the spell on him. "Thank you, though. Even if you have no idea what I meant."

Without a look back, Draco continued to walk around the castle, his mind on what would happen if he lived and wondering if it would just be easier if he died.

* * *

**MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN**

**MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS "RALLYING POINT"**

**FOR OLD DEATH EATERS**

Draco snorted at the headlines on the_ Daily Prophet_ and went to the letter accompanying it.

_Brat,_

_Look at that, I'm famous all over again! And as far as anyone believes, I am no longer in Britain. So I can be famous and laugh at all their stupid ideas._

_Now, I don't know what you mean by Cissy sending you a note to tell me, she sent me one herself. That just makes me think you care even more. Keep on denying it, I know you just love receiving my letters._

_Talking about Cissy, here's something from her to you. "Darling, you know the letters we used to write? I'm sorry to say that your father and I have misplaced them. Be careful at school, Darling."_

_I almost gagged writing that. I can't believe I had to write "Darling" to you._

_Now, maybe you could tell me what she's so cryptic about? Her letter was very brief and gave me no answers. She hasn't written in a while. Perhaps you've heard from her?_

_I can't believe I just asked that. Oh well, too late for that._

_S_

_P.S. OH! Before I forget, this is Ron's owl. Make sure you aren't in a public place when he sees you! By the way, you're also my U.S. penpal to those who live with me._

Ron's... owl? No wonder that tiny thing looked familiar. Sighing, he shooed the owl away, but he just hooted and jumped around the Come and Go Room.

He looked around with a frown. The room had changed. The wall with the words on them hadn't appeared in so long, he doubted it would again. Instead, it was full to the brim with books. The pictures of his family and him were gone, replaced with a large glass window overlooking the castle. His hammock was still there. However, the view of the beach was gone, replaced by a roaring fire.

There were two couches surrounding the table - which was where he was sitting. They were comfortable and Draco had no desire to move.

His eyes were still locked on the letter.

They couldn't have misplaced the papers, it was almost impossible. So it had to have been confiscated. If that was the case, the reason his mother was being so cryptic was because it was the Dark Lord who had taken them.

Rubbing his head, he felt his eye twitch when the hyperactive owl jumped on his head and hooted. Giving a loud hiss, Draco jumped to his feet. The owl - for the life of him, Draco couldn't remember the name - gave a loud hoot and went to the opposite couch to stare at him.

"Oh, now you're going to stay for me to write something. Well, I have nothing to write."

The owl just blinked up at him, tilting its head around.

"Damn bird, just leave!"

"Arguing with a bird so early in the morning?"

Draco wheeled around to face two smirking twins. Their eyes were still tired, and Fred gave a large yawn. George stretched his arms over his head until his back popped.

"How'd you know I was here?"

"The map we just nicked from Harry." Fred replied, hurrying over to Draco and collapsing on the couch with his head in the other boy's lap.

"A map?"

George followed at a more sedate pace, until he was sitting in front of Draco on the floor. "Yup! We found it our first year and..."

"... stole it from Filch. Took us..."

"... a while to get it to work, though."

"I'm sure. Let me see."

"Your Highness can not get everything he desires," George stuck his nose in the air. "If we decide to let you see it, then we'll let you see it."

"Very well." Draco looked over at the fire and ignored their gaping mouths.

Fred turned so his chin was resting on Draco's thigh. His body gave a tiny twitch and Draco stared down at him with a frown firmly in place.

"What?"

"We were kidding."

"I presumed as much. Now, the map?"

"Freddie! Why'd you go and ruin the moment?" George whined, a pout on his lips.

"Ehh... oops?"

Smirking, Draco held his hand between the two until George grumbled and put the 'map' in his hands. He looked over it, before holding it towards the light. He squinted, trying to see something before pulling out his wand. But Fred grabbed his wrist and said, "Say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.'"

Without hesitating, Draco did as asked and watched in astonishment as something began to bleed onto the thick parchment. Words began to appear, footsteps manifested, ribbons with names on them came to life.

"That's Ron's owl!"

"I worry about you two." Draco murmured, not looking away from the map. Draco didn't care that Fred inched his way up until he was sitting beside the him. He didn't mind that their legs were barely touching and he could feel Fred's breath on his cheek. "So this is how you guys always find me."

"Yup! Blondie, what are you doing with Ronniekins owl?"

"Oh... the Mutt wrote a letter and sent him, now the owl is waiting. What's his name?"

"Pigwidgeon," the two said at the same time.

"Pig... what?"

"Our sister came up with the name."

"He looks like a fluffy snitch, how'd he get a name like Pigwidgeon?"

"You know, Harry said the same thing." George grinned up at them.

"I'm sure. We're both seekers. Now I need to write the Mutt back." Even as he was talking, a piece of parchment, a quill, and an inkwell appeared on the table. "Anyway, have you two been meditating?"

"Most of the time." The two grinned at him.

Draco rolled his eyes. "It's still early, you can work on that now." Looking longingly at the map, he placed it beside the parchment on the table so he could keep watching. On the top read:

**Messrs Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers, are Proud to Present: The Marauder's Map**

"They certainly thought highly of themselves," Draco whispered, letting a finger trail over the map before shaking himself. Before one of the hellions could distract him, he pushed Fred off the couch and sneered at the tangle of limbs below him. "Well, go on. Go meditate, you hellions, so I can write in peace."

Fred managed to get off his brother and shot a grin at Draco, "Sir, yes, sir. Jeez, you sure are bossy."

Draco merely rose an eyebrow and pointed to the window. The two gave him a mock salute and scurried over there.

Somehow refraining from looking at the map, Draco quickly wrote his own message back to Sirius. Pigwidgeon was flying around, hooting and doing little flips around the room.

_Mutt,_

_I do not believe that is something that calls for elation. Your sense of humor is boggling. Do you _want_ to be the prime suspect for recruiting known Death Eaters?_

_Mother is probably wishing for it to be firmly reiterated so that even you can understand that she is serious. If you believe for one second that I care, you are sorely mistaken._

_As for her note to me, I understand it and there is no cause for me to tell you its meaning._

_No, I have not heard from either her nor Father. There used to be a time where we would communicate at least two times a week. However, I have not heard anything concrete from her for a couple of months._

_If you receive anything from my mother, send word to me so that I at least know she's in some sort of safe position._

_United States? You really could not come up with a better excuse? No wonder you were in Gryffindor._

_D_

With a nod, he placed down his quill and grabbed for the map. He opened it and greedily drank everything in. There was Sev pacing in his office - which was odd as Sev _hated_ pacing. Blaise was in the library, probably sitting as his footsteps weren't moving anywhere. Harry was with Hermione and Ron outside by the lake. Dumbledore was in his own office, mirroring Severus.

"Amazing," he muttered. "Simply amazing." He continued to look, and finally came to where he and the twins should have been, but saw nothing. "This is odd. Where are we?"

"Apparently the Marauder's hadn't found the Come and Go Room in their time." Fred and George whispered in his ear.

His heartbeat raced, his eyes widened, Draco jumped to his feet and whirled on the two. "Don't you _ever_ do that again." His wand was in his hand, shaking.

"Eeh?"

"You're supposed to be meditating," Draco snapped as he hastily put his wand back in his sleeve, "not trying to get me to curse you two!"

"Couldn't resist," the two shrugged, though their grins were still pasted on their faces.

"Of course you couldn't." Draco sniffed before rolling up his letter and - after catching the blasted bird - tied it to Pigwidgeon's leg. "Go on, take it to who sent you here."

The owl took off through the window as if the glass within it didn't exist.

"Blondie," Fred collapsed on the couch and held his hands out to the blonde. "Won't you come here?"

"No."

"Aww, come one Blondie. Come here."

_Aren't you going to go to him?_

Ignoring the voice, Draco frowned at the twin. "No."

Pouting, Fred let his hands fall to his chest. "Again, you injure me beyond repair."

"Somehow I believe you will find a way to survive." Draco wandered over to the opposite couch and sat. But he could only see the books.

"The bracelet doesn't lie. Come here."

Draco glared at Fred. "I want to see the castle, not be manhandled by you."

George grinned and lunged over at Draco. Before he could protest, George was hauling him off the couch and tossing him at Fred. "Catch!" Draco's body tensed and he was taken back in time in his mind.

"_Impediment!" Thrown like a lifeless doll, Draco waited for the moment of impact. A sharp stone imbedded into his leg as his back crashed into something else. A shrill shriek left Draco's lips as he was once again flew away, his leg ripping away from the stone.  
_

"Blondie!"

Pain. That was all he felt. White, blinding pain. He couldn't see anything. Over and over again he tried to look around, but he couldn't.

"Blondie!"

He could barely hear them. He didn't recognize who was calling him. What did he do to deserve this agony?

"Draco Lucius Malfoy!"

"Yes, sir?" He gasped. If he didn't answer, they would surely do something worse. It hurt. His throat seemed to be closed and it was difficult to breath.

"Sit up."

Instantly obeying, he found it slightly easier to breath. He hadn't even realized he had been lying down.

Then something warm began to rub his back. It felt like a palm. And then deft fingers were digging into his knots and slowly pressed the tension away.

Slowly but surely the pain began to recede and he realized he wasn't back in front of the Dark Lord. His vision was no longer white, but he didn't have any desire to open his eyes. There was something heavy on his leg, though, so he carefully opened one eye. All he could make out was an auburn head. "Why are you lying on me?"

George just patted his leg, not saying anything.

Draco wasn't sure how he knew it was George, but he knew that it was Fred who was rubbing his back. Deciding he was too sore to move, Draco leaned into the hands and sighed.

"You had one of those attacks."

"Mhm."

"You didn't hear us for twenty minutes."

"I see."

Fred sighed, pressing into a tight knot that caused Draco to moan. "You're really stressed to have this much tension. You should relax, Blondie."

"I can't." Draco opened his eyes and found he could finally see everything clearly. "If I let up on one thing, it could cause the destruction for everything else."

"You can't be positive about that."

"I am."

"How?"

Draco pulled away from Fred and George so he could sit with his back on the couch. If he told them everything, he was certain their curiosity would be sated. He knew that, they had said something about that the previous year. If he didn't tell them, he felt like he was going to go mad. He usually had his mum to talk to, but now that he knew that they couldn't communicate openly he felt lost.

So he didn't look at them as he spoke. "First and foremost is my goal to keep the Golden Boy alive. That was especially difficult last year, but I managed and he's still breathing through sheer luck. Next is protecting my family, which means being able to fool the Dark Lord, which is near impossible. If I hadn't been trained all my life I would be dead as would my family. That was how it's been until the beginning of this year. Dumbledore has me pushing the Slytherin's away from me and towards house unity.

"That's only worked because of Blaise. He's taking control of it and inviting people to the D.A. which is a good and bad thing. People are beginning to trust some Slytherin's, and Blaise has been careful to bring only neutral Slytherin's. I have to keep an eye on the other Slytherin's and if they say anything, I have to go to Dumbledore. I have unceremoniously become a spy for the Dark Lord, and anything he says to me I report to Dumbledore. I also was told to get under Umbridge's good graces, which I have managed to do.

"Now I 'spy' on the Golden Trio for her and anyone else who disobeys her." Idly Draco ran a finger on the small '_I_' on his robes. Still he refused to look at the twins. In the back of his mind he registered that something opened, but he was too distracted to figure it out. "That hasn't really begun yet, but it will. I have to gain the Golden Trio's trust, I have to pass on pointless information to the Dark Lord without making it seem pointless. I have to get more information from the Dark Lord so that it has some effect in the war so that it'll just _end_. I have to figure out and destroy some of the Dark Lord horcruxes. And on top of that, I have to be this cold-hearted, worthless piece of _shit _so people won't start questioning my family."

His body began to tremble. He folded his legs together and gripped his robes tightly in his hands. Finally he looked at the twins, his blue-gray eyes flashing defiance. "I have given up _everything_ for this _boy_ who has to save this screwed up world. When it's all said and done, if he doesn't grow up and defeat the Dark Lord, it'll be because I didn't try hard enough or did enough. Or it'll be because of him being a stupid, stubborn, untrusting child still angry about something I had to do in the very beginning.

"My family is being torn apart by Harry because he's too scared to do anything, and while I'm losing my family, he's gaining yours. I don't have the opportunity to be who I want, and he's fighting to be someone he's not. He's blind and he doesn't even have the decency to know what he's doing!"

The twins stared at him in silence as Draco pulled on his hair. When he didn't make a sound to say anything else, Fred moved forward, but made no move to touch him, which Draco was thankful for.

"Screw Dumbledore."

Blue eyes rose to meet light brown ones. "Excuse me?"

George took his place beside his brother, waving a hand. "You know, don't listen to him. What he has you doing isn't high priority."

"As you said, Harry comes first."

"After all, he is helpless."

"Next comes your family and dealing with the Dark Lord."

"You shouldn't have to add anything more than that. You're only fifteen."

Draco gave a small smile, "But the house unity is slowly coming together. I can't stop that."

"Of course not," Fred replied. He moved slowly, so that Draco had the chance to stop him, and tapped him gently on the nose. "We thought you were a smart Slytherin, Blondie."

"Join in."

Draco looked over at George, batting Fred's hand away when the hellion tried to repeat his action. "Do what?"

"You know, make up with Blaise, and join him at the D.A. meetings," Fred answered.

"There are two problems with that," Draco replied, scowling at the twins. "First: they'll all scream bloody murder as you politely reminded me last time. Two: people will realize that Pup is missing."

"Good point, but you can at least acknowledge other people."

"I will... think about it."

"Good," they both said with firm nods. "But you will not work with toad-face, we won't allow it."

Draco gave a tiny smile, but didn't think the twins noticed.

"Also!" George continued.

"You will not worry over something someone tells you to do."

"You will do it in your own way..."

"... because if you don't, you might..."

"... lose who you are and that..."

"... is something that is not allowed."

Something that was not allowed? He could do things his own way, completely, and not have to worry about how others would do it? He was already, kind of, doing that. Sort of.

"What will you guys do, after the war?"

The sudden subject change had the two tall, lanky boys opening and closing their mouths a few times before the answered in unison, "Work on our joke shop, of course."

He knew he shouldn't get attached to them. Even as he listened them prattle on and on about their ideas, he knew that he should try to push them away.

Yet he knew he wouldn't be able to. As the two talked, he let his smile grow and eventually pushed the dark thoughts away until he could think on them later.

* * *

The whole hall was looking at him. He had stood from his spot at the Slytherin table quite suddenly, but that wasn't why they were looking at him.

Draco had taken off the little '_I_' he had on his robes and moved it from hand to hand, a bored expression on his face. Then, what had caused everyone to look at him, was that he walked straight up to the Head Table and stood in front of Umbridge with a smirk in place.

That was where he was standing, and he brought the '_I_' up for closer inspection. "This is a trivial matter, Professor. This is how you plan on making others better?" He raised an eyebrow at the woman who was becoming quite pink. "This is nothing more than what a Prefect or the Head Boy has. I have no need of this." He flicked the offending letter onto the table to land next to the woman's plate of food. "I have the rank of Prefect, and this means little less."

Draco looked towards Dumbledore and saw that the man had lost the twinkle in his eyes with a frown on his face. Then he faced the Defense Professor, smirk still firmly in place. "I'm a Malfoy, Professor. I don't need you handing me things for me to make my way in life. What I want, I take with my own hands and defeat any quarry in my way."

With that Draco whirled around and marched out the Great Hall. As the door fell closed behind him, he didn't hear a single thing from the room.

What had he done?

* * *

A/N Soooo can anyone guess who it was that entered the C&GR in the middle of Draco's rant? :D

And yes, the order of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs was done on purpose.


	35. Four Months

A/N And, once again, none of this was supposed to happen. * sigh * Stupid Sev

* * *

"Blondie!"

Draco thought he heard yelling, but he was too distracted to really care. What had he done? He threw away a pawn he could have used to change something in the war.

"Draaaaaaaco?"

Dumbledore was going to be so upset over it. He was going to punish Draco in some way, shape or form. However, it could possibly work out for the better because he could just use it as an excuse to get closer to Harry if the old coot questioned his motives. Then again, he couldn't exactly tell Dumbledore what was going on about trying to gain Harry's trust because then he might add more things to do.

"Hello, anyone in there?"

Pacing back and forth, Draco yanked on his hair as his brain went into overdrive. Technically it wasn't even his fault. After all, the twins were the ones who planted the idea in his head.

"We have something for you."

Yeah, it was the twins' fault. He had been handling everything fine, but then they said that he didn't have to. He would have survived if he just did what he was told. He wouldn't have to try to figure out ways to worm himself out of trouble. He just wanted to do what was needed and not do anything complicated.

"We're going to keep it."

As he was about to turn his body to keep moving so he didn't run into a wall, someone gripped his shoulder. Reacting, Draco's hand pulled out his wand and gave it a subtle flick; whoever grabbed him was tossed away.

"Fred!"

Blinking owlishly, Draco stared wide-eyed at the twin who had ropes tied around his wrists and ankles to keep him in place. Fred was staring down at himself, his auburn hair covering his face.

But then he looked up, his mouth quirked up in a small smile as he said, "Kinky."

With a sigh Draco released the spell as George smacked Fred on the head. "Really, Freddie? That's all you can think of to say?"

"What else was I supposed to say? Hey, Blondie wh-"

"No."

The two grinned at each other as Draco growled. "What are you doing here?"

Shrugging, they spoke at the same time, "Following you."

"Why do you feel the need to do that?" He crossed his arms in front of himself, his wand still held firmly in place so when Fred stood and walked towards him he just had to level it at the twin. "You can stay where you are."

"But Draco, I have something for you."

He paused, unnerved that Fred called him Draco and not Blondie. "You do?" He should probably have been worried - it was the twins - but for some reason he wasn't. "What is it?"

"It's a gift from _both_ of us. A late Christmas gift," George rolled his eyes as he stepped closer.

"It was my idea, though."

"It was totally his idea," George agreed at his smiling twin. "I wouldn't have come up with it. I just helped pick it out and split the cost with him. So, technically, it's from both of us."

"Hand it over."

"He's so demanding, Georgie."

"That he is, Freddie."

"Should I hand it over?"

"I'm thinking you should hold onto it for a bit."

Fred pulled something small out of his pocket. "I'm not sure I want to keep it, though."

"You never know, though. They come in handy."

Draco marched over and took the box out of Fred's hands gently, cradling it to his chest. "If you don't stop talking, you two won't get your presents." The presents that he forgot he had.

Apparently he said the right thing for them to shut up because they weren't making any more noises.

He carefully held up the tiny box, his eyes roaming every centimeter of it. "Will it bite me?"

"Possibly."

Draco looked up at the two, narrowing his eyes. "Why would you give me something that will bite me? Do you wish for me to set it upon you?"

Fred grinned and collapsed on the ground to sit at Draco's feet. "That would be amusing. I actually wouldn't mind it too much, either."

"Speak for yourself," George planted his hands on his hips. "How about you just open it?"

Giving them one last look, Draco gave a short nod and stared at the box again. Pursing his lips, he gave up on guessing what it was. So, slowly, he opened the box and stared gobsmacked at what was inside.

Two deep blue eyes were staring up at him. They didn't blink, there wasn't a sound, there wasn't any movement. "Did... How... Why... Really? Do you know how rare they are?" Draco whispered, sticking a single finger into the box and sitting on the floor in front of Fred. His eyes went wide when he felt something rough was swiped against his skin.

Slowly, very slowly, he placed the box on the floor and reached his hands in. "I need to take back your presents and get something else. You'll need to give me a rain check."

When nothing happened, he gently pulled out the small animal. "Really, how'd you get me a pureblood Kneazle? They are so rare now. It's rumored there are only a hundred or so left."

"Which is why it took us so long to find her," the two muttered.

"Yeah, Freddie started looking for one ever since you were saved by Crookshanks."

Draco sniffed, but his eyes never left the pure white bundle in his hands. There weren't any spots, there weren't any blemishes, there was only white fur. "How? Why?"

"We already told you why." George muttered reaching down to let a finger stroke the top of the kitten's head.

"No, you just gave the information for when." Draco held the kitten close to his face, the large bushy tail dangling between his fingers.

"I wanted to give you something you'd appreciate," Fred muttered, his hands clenched in his lap.

He wasn't able to stop himself. Draco looked up and gave Fred a large smile that lit up his eyes, "Thank you."

Fred blinked a few times before a small smile appeared on his face.

"Oi, I helped too!"

Draco rolled his eyes, "Yes you did. I will not repeat myself."

Huffing, George plopped down on the ground beside his brother. "Well, you said we have presents, too. Where are they?"

Biting the inside of his lip, Draco shook his head, unable to look away from the Kneazle. "I won't give them to you. They aren't worthy of the gift you gave me. You'll have to wait for -"

"Stop, Draco." The blonde trembled only slightly when Fred called him by his name again. Forcing his eyes upward, he was met with two pairs of serious brown eyes. "We don't care for Pureblood traditions. You do not have to have a gift that is equal to the one we gave you."

George nodded and gave a cheeky grin, "Just the fact that you thought about us and bought us a gift is enough, anyway. How often does a Malfoy give a Weasley anything, let alone two of us?"

"But, before that happens, it would be smart to name her first."

Draco nodded and looked down at the Kneazle, the name popping into his head immediately. "Eira."

The kneazle blinked once and gave a small purr, as if in acceptance.

"Eira?"

"Neither of you know Welsh? It means snow." When Eira wiggled in his hands, Draco placed the small form down on the floor. The kneazle padded around the room, sniffing everything. "It's amazing how small they start out and how big they'll eventually get. She'll be bigger than Crookshanks."

The two nodded and George reached inside his robes to pull out a piece of parchment. "You need this. All you have to do is place Eira's name on it and your own and she's yours for life."

Draco took the paper and a quill flew to his free hand where he quickly scribed his and Eira's name. Finished, he carefully folded the parchment and placed it inside his robe along with a spell so only he can summon the paper or remove it from his person.

"Now, Blondie, our presents."

But before anything happened, an owl flew through the glass in the window and landed in front of Draco, holding out its leg. With a resigned sigh, Draco removed the letter and read through the short missive even as the owl flew away.

_Come now. You will need the other two. Keep them out of my way._

"They will have to wait. We must go see Sev. I'm surprised it took him this long to call. All I asked was for a few days and here it is, February." Standing, Draco looked between the two and smiled.

The two thought they were so smart. That they would be able to hide the differences between the two of them. Or maybe they wanted him to know. He gave them a smile and brought out his wand, tapping them on the head to put them under the disillusionment charm. "You two are to stay hidden until Sev is finished." His smile grew a bit pained before he disappeared from view. "I imagine it's not going to be pleasant."

* * *

Harry was standing in front of Snape, arms folded and a scowl in place. A headache was pounding at his head and the potions master was staring at him. "Why am I just waiting, Professor?"

"Since you are unable to learn Occlumency, I am going to be showing you an example of what you are striving for."

Confused, Harry wisely kept his mouth shut and continued to glare at Snape. After a few more minutes, the door opened though there was no one there. It stayed open for a few seconds longer before it finally shut and Malfoy was standing in front of him.

"No no no no no no," Harry backed up with his hands up in the air. "I refuse to allow him to jump into my brain again."

Snape raised an eyebrow as he flicked his wand at the door. There was a surge of magic and Harry was instantly on guard, wand in hand. "Mr. Malfoy, you entered Potter's mind?"

Malfoy shrugged, "I asked him if he wanted me to. Potter gave me permission, so I did."

"I see." Snape came closer to Malfoy and Harry. "What is going to happen is that I'm going to jump into your mind, Mr. Malfoy, and I will be taking Potter along as well. This lesson will hopefully show him what is expected of him in no uncertain terms. Perhaps even he will be able to understand."

Harry watched as Malfoy stiffened with every word, his lips tightening, but the other boy did nothing to argue. When Snape finished speaking, Draco took a deep breath and soon looked like he always did: calm, assured, and uncaring. "Very well."

Jumping when a hand touched his shoulder, Harry found it was Snape's after double-checking to see if he went mad.

Before he could move away, Harry felt something suck him out of his body and he was suddenly on a well worn path in a woods.

"This, Mr. Potter, is what your mind should look like," Snape was ahead of him, walking forward and Harry had no choice but to follow. "Or something of this nature, but with some sort of elemental theme. A burning house filled with rooms. A sea filled with fish and other animals. A forest, such as this. Air filled with clouds and flying animals."

Harry's eyes were wide as they walked. Different types of flowers were everywhere. Shrubs and grass and small insects covered the ground except for the pebbled path. Huge trees towered over him filled to the brim with leaves and branches.

"Everything you see contains some form of memory, large or small. Many of them are insignificant and aren't remembered except by those who find them. What we do here is grab something and look at it," as he spoke, Snape yanked a leaf off a tree and held it out to Harry.

Slowly, Harry took it from the man and looked down at the surface.

_A very small boy stood with a cookie in one hand and a glass in the other. He kept looking back and forth between the two with a frown in place. There was a pout on the tiny face, and tears were beginning to grow in his eyes. But then the face cleared and the tiny boy set his glass down and broke his cookie into tiny pieces and dropped them into his glass. Finished, the blonde haired blue eyed boy grinned and began to drink the milk and soggy pieces of cookie._

Looking away, Harry released the leaf and watched it as it floated back to its place.

"Everything you take and look at, the person who you entered sees it also, though they won't be able to hear any speech like how we are talking now. Once we enter, we have almost all control of what we see. However, memories can be hidden from sight."

Once again following his potions professor, Harry was led to a large lake. Leaning down, Harry touched the water which immediately caused ripples to occur and a memory was on the surface.

_"Mum! Look what Father gave me!" A tiny five year old squealed, running into the Master Suite, a miniature broom in one chubby hand and a cookie in the other. "And Dobby! Dobby made me a cookie!" Without any other thought, the boy crammed said cookie into his mouth, "it's 'ummy, 'um! 'okie, 'okie!"_

_"Draco Lucius Malfoy!" Narcissa tried to sound stern, but a bubble of laughter threatened to escape her. "Do not talk with your mouth full, what would your father say?"_

_The boy chewed quickly before swallowing, a few crumbs still on his pale skin. Then little Draco took in a deep breath before holding up a finger, eyes screwed shut, "A true Malfoy will hold himself with diligence. Malfoy's will not disgrace themselves in anyway in front of others. Malfoy's will appear superior in every way." With that the boy dropped his hands and stared at his Mother, "but Mum, I don't know what diligence, disgrace, or superior means. Does that mean I'm a bad Malfoy?"_

_When his face scrunched up, and tears began to have a sheen in his eyes, his mother swooped down and plucked him from the floor. "No, Darling. It means you still have much to learn." She nuzzled his neck and blew into his ear until he giggled. "It just means you must act how your father has taught you to act in front of others."_

_"But Mum, I have to not tell anybody anything secret? What about Theo? He's nice."_

_"No, Darling, not even Theo can know our secrets. What have we told you, from the very beginning?"_

_"Family comes first. Family is everything."_

_She nodded, holding him close, "That's right, darling boy, family is everything."_

_When she felt Draco nod, she placed the energetic boy on the ground. "Well, Father isn't here, so can we not tell him I wasn't being a good Malfoy?"_

_With a laugh, Narcissa ruffled her son's hair, winking at the man who stood in the doorway, "Of course, Draco. We won't tell your father."_

Harry drew back, mind reeling and feeling ashamed that he saw something so private. He looked around and saw that some of the leaves were wilting and falling to the ground. Every few seconds the ground gave a little tremor.

Snape snapped his fingers and Harry was suddenly back in the room, staring at an ashen Malfoy. Seconds later, the blonde began to sway. As he was about to fall, the twins suddenly appeared out of nowhere and one of them swooped Malfoy into his arms and glared at Snape. "What did you do?"

A hissing sound came from the other twin who held a small, pure white kitten in his arms.

"What needed to be done," Snape snapped, his eyes wide on the boy in front of him. "It shouldn't be affecting him this badly, though."

A chuckle escaped the boy in the twin's arms. A leg shot out and kicked the Weasley in the leg and he gently dropped Malfoy to the ground. Malfoy stood tall, straightening his clothes with a sneer at the twin, "Disgusting." Then those silver eyes were locked on Snape, "Why, hello Sevvy. Been a while. It's difficult to come out with these two near him all the time."

Both twins stiffened and Harry took a few steps backwards. This wasn't the right Malfoy. The voice was too cold, too calculated, too... everything.

"You do realize that the Dark Lord brewed the potion so it's abnormal. There are, of course, side effects that you should have realized sooner." Malfoy had strode forward and placed his hands on his hips. "Instead _I_ have to _force_ myself out to save _our_ hide. Really, Sevvy, where is your common sense? Do you not have some even for your poor godson?"

"You will leave him out of this."

Malfoy laughed that cruel, cold laugh again. "He's a part of everything, Sevvy. You and his father and his mother and the old coot made sure of it. _Those_ two," he pointed at the twins "had to intervene to keep him from doing too much and putting himself at risk."

Harry edged away, but then those silver eyes flew to his and locked him in place. "Ah, it's you. He had such hope for you, but you keep proving him wrong. You are a disappointment. It's because of you and them that I can't convince him to go down the winning path. Oh well.

"Now, where was I before I was interrupted? Ah, yes, saving your godson." Harry let out a relieved sigh when Malfoy turned once again to Snape. "The potion that you found that day is more advanced than you thought it was. The Dark Lord tampered with it only slightly so not even you would notice the difference."

Snape's eyes narrowed and Harry couldn't help but be confused. Very quietly, Snape asked, "What do you mean?"

"Do I really need to explain what tampered means? Altered, changed, manipulated, mucked about, tinkered... must I continue?"

The next words were bitten out by Snape, "What did he do to change the potion?"

"Oh, that." Malfoy shrugged, crossing his arms. "He made it so that the pain that he feels intensifies each and every time some sort of pain happens to him. What he felt that night? That was just the beginning. What he feels _now_ is much worse than that. It's slowly tearing him apart. It's, of course, a test by the Dark Lord's standards." Malfoy rolled his eyes and walked back to the twin who had been holding him, standing in front of the auburn haired boy. "I'm tired of this conversation. You might want to be ready to catch."

With that, Malfoy dropped, a shriek leaving his parted lips.

Harry slammed his hands over his ears, wishing for the sound to stop. It didn't let up.

He thought about leaving, but the twins were blocking the doorway. He just went to the farthest corner and curled into a ball. It didn't even cross his mind to put a silence charm around him so he didn't have to listen.

The tortured sounds echoed around the room and he wondered how no one else could hear. Why no one was rushing in. Why nothing seemed to make the boy stop screaming.

Malfoy's back was arched, his eyes open but unseeing. The sound abruptly halted, but it wasn't because Malfoy wasn't in pain. No, something seemed to have snapped in his throat. Blood was trickling down his mouth and dropping to the floor. His whole body was convulsing and shaking.

Finally Malfoy grew limp in the twin's arms. Hard, brown eyes rose from the boy who was held in his arms. Harry flinched back and was glad he didn't have that stare directed at him.

Snape, for his part, just looked shocked.

"You knew about this?" The whisper was harsh even as the twin stood with the blonde in his arms, the boy unmoving. "You knew about this and you _still_ did that to him?"

The other twin's eyes widened, and he rushed forward to place himself between Snape and his brother. "Freddie, you need to calm down."

That was when Harry felt it. Slow, burning magic was creeping throughout the room. Fred's eyes had a flare of magic in them that warned them all of pain. "He knew, George. He _knew_."

"Yes, Freddie, but we can't do anything about it." When George's words didn't seem to calm his brother down, Harry stepped forward.

"Uh, Fred," Harry cringed when those brown eyes turned towards him and the magic seemed to rush out to surround him, ready to attack. He wished he hadn't spoken, but he went on. "How are you supposed to help... Draco when you get angry? You need to calm down and do what's best for him."

That seemed to do the trick. The magic was sucked back into the twin, and his eyes seemed to soften just a bit. "What do we do?"

Snape finally spoke, "We make sure that he isn't attacked mentally or physically for the next four months as I finish the potion."

"Four months?" George asked.

"It takes a year to brew it. There's four more months until it is complete. He must not be put into any danger during that time period or he has the chance of dying."

Fred rounded on Snape and hissed, "You should have thought of that a long time ago."

As Fred turned on his heel, Harry couldn't help but agree with what the twin said. Not wanting to be left alone with Snape, he raced after the twins who left the room.

When they went towards the Hospital Wing, Harry went the opposite direction, lost in thought. He knew he had to grab Ron and Hermione and talk to them about what happened. He knew he had to talk to Malfoy. But what he was going to say, Harry didn't know.

* * *

A/N Ok, so here's the reason pure-blooded kneazles are rare in my story: 1) I wanted them to be. LOL. 2) They have been interbred with cats so much that there aren't many left 3) It shows how dedicated Fred and George are to find one for Draco. Also, the two main differences between a cat and a pure blooded kneazle is the fact that kneazles have brighter, purer coats and their much larger size. Eira will be the size of a blue-heeler, and she isn't going to be the largest. Also, a kneazle will live for how long their wizard lives unless they're killed, just because I said so. :D


	36. All Explained?

"Freddie, he's going to be pissed when he wakes up."

"I don't care."

"If we come in with him, his cover is blown."

"I don't care."

"He won't want to have anything to do with us after this."

"I don't care."

"Fred, think about it."

"I am! Did you not see what happened? We stopped hearing him scream because something is wrong with his throat."

"Yes, but his own magic can heal it."

"How do you know that?"

"... I don't."

"I'm taking him to Pomfrey and I don't care if he'll hate me for it."

"Alright. I'll help, but I'm going to point the blame towards you."

"Fair enough."

* * *

His head was pounding. Whenever he tried to move, his body complained. Just the act of breathing was difficult.

With a soundless groan, Draco opened his eyes. Thankfully it was dark.

Where was he? The last thing he remembered was Sev and Harry standing in front of him with wide eyes. Then everything went blank.

Carefully, he moved until he was sitting up. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the white curtains surrounding him. He flicked his hand and the curtains moved out of his way to reveal the Hospital Wing.

"Oh, Mr. Malfoy, you're awake. I've been worried about you." The elderly matron scurried over, her wand in hand. "You've been sleeping for the past two days. Not to say that you didn't need it, but you had us all worried."

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Frowning, he closed his mouth, paused, opened it again, and tried to say something. Again, nothing came out.

His hands flew to his throat, and Draco kept trying to say something. It itched, it ached, and it tried to work, but it kept failing. When Pomfrey drew closer, Draco jumped to his feet, one hand clasped around his throat and the other warding off the nurse.

He kept shaking his head over and over again. He couldn't talk. He lost the ability to speak.

Draco scratched at his throat, trying to scream. It felt tight, constrictive. No matter how hard he tried, there was no sound.

Pomfrey raised her wand toward him. Draco shook his head, and immediately his magic lashed out and ripped her wand away. Her eyes flew wide open as she was tossed away from him.

As she crashed, Draco saw two people rushing towards him. Once again his magic flew out, but it only sent one of them flying away. The other continued forward until he stood in front of the bed.

Pressed tightly against the wall, standing on top of the bed, Draco didn't look away from Fred. The blonde's chest was heaving, and it was getting more and more difficult to breath. His vision was getting blurry, and he couldn't say anything!

"Draco, it's ok."

_It's fine. Don't put us in any more danger._

"It's ok, I promise." Fred placed a foot on the bed before standing still, probably waiting for Draco to lash out. "It'll be fine. Come here."

Draco shook his head frantically. It wouldn't be alright. He wouldn't be able to talk again. It was something else he would fail at.

"Breathe. You need to calm down, Draco. You're going to hurt yourself more."

Fred pushed off the ground and finally stood at the edge of the bed. Draco's heart began to slow. It didn't beat as rapidly, and it didn't pound in his throat anymore.

"Mr. Weasley! You -"

Twisting his body, Draco stared at the woman again, his magic swelling up. His heart picked up speed. He tried to tell her to go away, but nothing happened. No sound, no voice, no anything.

It was something else screaming in his head. Something else that wanted to be heard, but couldn't be.

"Draco," that voice was back. Soft, compelling, and full of authority. "Look at me."

Clinging to that voice, Draco faced Fred again. He ignored George holding Madam Pomfrey back. He ignored the hand George clamped over her mouth. He ignored George staring at him with wide eyes.

Instead he focused on Fred. Fred, who now stood in front of him, a head taller than him. Those light brown eyes that bored into his without a hint of fear or confusion. The one who held out a single hand. "Come here."

Once again Draco shook his head, though his hand itched to take the other's.

Fred leaned down so he was eye to eye with the blonde. Auburn hair fell across his eyes, leaving them shadowed. The freckles that had barely been visible were standing out. "Draco. Come here."

Swallowing seemed impossible, but he managed it. He reached out and took Fred's hand, allowing the twin to yank him in his arms. For a moment, Draco stiffened. But the arms around him were reassuring, so Draco just sighed and buried his head in Fred's chest.

"Mr. Weasley, I need to check Mr. Malfoy." When Fred began to release Draco, the blonde grasped Fred's shirt with one hand and shook his head. "Mr. Malfoy, if you're calm, I can attempt to fix your throat."

Draco kept his hand firmly in Fred's shirt and peeked one eye out to glare at the woman. If he couldn't say 'fuck off, I'm about to kill you' with his voice, he sure as hell could make it to where she understood his eyes.

"Draco, let her look at you," Fred's voice drifted down to his ear and Draco shook his head, glaring at the woman.

"Oh, for goodness sakes! Mr. Weasley, remove yourself from him before I do it for you!" Madam Pomfrey had been able to get away from George and had him tied down to a bed. "Mr. Malfoy, the probability of me being able to save your voice is already dwindling. If I don't fix it now, you will lose it for certain."

So his voice was already screwed. If that was the case he was not going to be staying and dealing with the mad woman who kept pointing her wand at him with no warning what's so ever. He'd rather have Sev do it than her, and he didn't want the man anywhere near him at the moment.

Draco held out his free hand and his wand went immediately into it without a sound. He pointed it at the woman, his whole body shaking even as he clung to Fred.

"Draco, take a deep breath for me. You need to calm down. She's going to heal your throat." The voice was soft and calm, one hand rubbing circles in Draco's back while the other was running up Draco's arm towards the wand. "Come on, you want to talk again, right?"

Slowly, the blonde nodded, but he refused to lower his wand.

"Blondie, you'll be fine. We won't let anything happen to you." George's voice came from one of the beds. Without a thought, Draco flicked his wrist and the wraps came off him. Draco didn't have to even look to double check that it worked. "So will you let Madam Pomfrey check your throat and heal it?" George's voice was calm as it came closer.

He bit his lip and hid in the crook of Fred's neck and blinked stupidly at the mole there. "Draco?" His voice was different too, not by much, but different. Fred spoke slower than his brother and his words were spoken more deliberately, even when he was excited.

There was a clicking sound. There was one dull thump and one loud clank and Draco felt Fred's arms go limp for a second before tightening.

"Draco? Will you let Madam Pomfrey check you, please?"

He didn't want to disappoint that voice, but he couldn't have the woman stand in front of him and point her wand at him. He couldn't. He wouldn't be able to stop his reactions. That's why he never went to the Hospital Ward. He was more likely to attack than give her an opportunity to heal him.

So Draco slowly shook his head.

"Even if I promise to keep ahold of you?"

Again Draco shook his head and he heard Fred sigh.

"Mr. Malfoy, I must -"

"Madam Pomfrey, give Fred and Draco another minute. Please."

"Draco, you'll be fine."

Draco shook his head, closing his eyes tightly hoping that Fred wouldn't force him. He wanted Sev to fix it. Well, he _thought_ he wanted Sev to do it.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Fred asked and Draco tensed, pressing as close to Fred as possible and turning so he was as far away from the woman as possible. "How difficult is it to fix his throat?"

"It's not difficult at all, but-"

"Then I can do it." Draco jerked back, eyes wide. Fred wasn't looking at him, he was staring at the medi-witch. "Show me the wand movements."

"Mr. Weasley, while I admire -"

"Madam Pomfrey, Draco isn't going to let you near him with a ten foot pole. If saving his vocal cords is imperative, then show me the damn movements and tell me the blasted words before he loses his voice for good."

He couldn't help it, he was staring at Fred with a gobsmacked look on his face.

"It is simple," Madam Pomfrey's voice was clenched and tight, but at least she was telling Fred what to do. "You point your wand at the area that you want to focus on. It's the incantation that is vital. It has to be like your chanting. You'll only need to say it twice."

"I can chant. What are the words?"

"Vulnera Sanentur. The more you chant it, the more effect it'll have. Now, before you start, trying saying the words."

"Vulnerra Sanatur."

"No, Mr. Weasley. Say Vulnera."

"Vulnera."

"Sanentur."

"Sanentur."

"Good. Altogether. Vulnera Sanentur."

"Vulnera Sanentur."

"Very good. Now, chant it. Go on."

Fred began to murmur it over and over again until Madam Pomfrey nodded.

"Alright, Draco, you'll have to let go of me for this."

Draco shook his head. He backed up, but he did two things. One: he kept his wand firmly pointed at Madam Pomfrey and two: he kept one hand fisted in Fred's shirt.

"Ok, I can work with this. Draco, I have to point my wand at your throat. Do you trust me to do this?"

Pulling his lip between his teeth, Draco nodded and locked his eyes with Fred.

"I don't know how this'll feel, but keep still until I finish, yeah?" When Draco gave him one more nod, Fred pulled out his wand slowly and pointed it at Draco's neck. "Ok, here I go. _Vulnera Sanentur. Vulnera Sanentur._"

Just Fred's voice made Draco relax, and the warm sensation filling his neck helped. When Fred lowered his wand, the twin asked, "How do you feel, Blondie?"

Instead of answering, Draco released Fred and lowered his wand. He crouched down and picked up what had fallen earlier. When he stood again, he placed the necklace in Fred's hand and whispered, voice still sore, "Merry Christmas."

"About damn time!" George's voice had Draco turning his head slightly to the boy, a slight smile on his face, and he didn't really mind when Fred pulled him back in his arms.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey was furious. Oh, she was glad Draco had his voice back, but what the Weasley twins did was not standard procedure. Not only that, but Draco could have been harmed if Fred Weasley hadn't said the incantation correctly.

Of course she wasn't going to tell him that before he tried because that would have made him nervous and more likely to accidently mispronounce the words.

"While I am glad you have your voice, Mr. Malfoy, I am afraid a detention is in order for both of you Mr. Weasleys."

"What?! What did we do?!" They asked at the same time, even though Fred wasn't letting go of Draco. Draco seemed to tense up and tried to pull away, but Fred kept him locked in place.

"You, George, manhandled me before I could help my patient and I had to detain you. You, Fred, handled a procedure that could have harmed Mr. Malfoy if you did anything wrong or if he didn't stay still!"

"You didn't say that!" Fred exclaimed, tightening his arms around the blonde.

"Release me."

"Nope, gonna hold on longer 'cause you actually came here first."

Draco tried to move around, but Fred just scoffed even when the blonde said, "If you have time to joke around, you will release me."

"No can do."

Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes at the students, her hands going to her hips. They were just going to pretend she wasn't there? "Mr. Malfoy, I need to check to see if there is anything else the matter with you."

"Nothing is the matter with me," he snapped, finally able to pull away from Fred and stepping down off the bed. He swished his wand at his robes and they became perfectly clean. "I am in perfect health. The only matter was with my voice."

"Even still, I need to -"

"Madam Pomfrey," Draco narrowed his eyes at her. "I have a private physician my family goes to if needed. He goes wherever we need him to go. I have no need for your services at this moment, but you have my gratitude for teaching Fred the healing spell to fix my throat." He started to walk towards the door, but he paused. "You have heard of doctor patient confidentiality, have you not?"

"Of course I have. However, that holds no merit if I haven't actually doctored you."

Draco cocked his head to the side, a small smirk on his lips. "Of course you have. The first two days while I was unconscious. And I am technically your patient until I walk out of this room."

"Aptly put, Mr. Malfoy. However, seeing as you have yet to leave the room," she waved her wand and some spells moved into place to lock the doors, "you are indeed still my patient. I have some questions for you."

"I'm sure you do, though you will not be pleased with the answer I deem to give you."

Fred jumped off the bed and he and his brother happily moved over to Draco. Fred went behind the blonde and placed his chin on Draco's head, and the other merely stood beside the two.

"What caused your injuries?"

"A little mishap with Professor Snape."

"Would you care to elaborate?"

"No."

"Mr. Malfoy."

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey?"

"Will you answer these questions seriously?"

"I am."

She sighed. "Your throat could only be damaged the way it was if it was from constant screaming. Screaming that lasted minutes. I must see the other damages that could have happened in your '_little mishap_ with Professor Snape'."

When Draco opened his mouth to argue, Fred gently prodded him in the side with a finger. "Shh, Blondie. What exactly are you going to do, Madam Pomfrey?"

"Just a quick scan to see if there are any obvious problems. If there are, I will rectify it quickly."

Draco shook his head, "There is nothing wrong with me."

"Blondie, stop being difficult for once," George sighed, poking the blonde's side with his brother. "Let her do this and you can leave quicker."

Draco frowned and leaned backwards and whispered something. Fred's eyes narrowed, but then he shook his head and muttered something back. Looking somewhat appeased, Draco glared at Madam Pomfrey. "You have three minutes."

* * *

Finally he was out of that blasted Hospital Wing. He didn't have to deal with infuriating women. He didn't have to answer stupid questions. He didn't have to worry about embarrassing himself more than he had.

Draco was storming down the hallway, a scowl firmly in place. People were staring at him. He shot a scowl over his shoulder at the twins who were following him. "Why are you following me?"

"Cause we can." The two grinned at him.

Instead of drawing his wand on the two, he sneered at them and kept storming up the steps. Students who saw him quickly pressed up against the wall. Fred and George were chuckling under their breaths and waving to students. They didn't even have the decency to look threatened when Draco did turn around with his wand pointed at them both.

"Whoa there, Malfoy! That's my brother you're pointing your wand at." Ginny was racing down the stairs with her own wand drawn, a scowl morphing her features. "Might want to rethink what you're doing."

Draco snarled and whipped around to face her, but the Golden Trio were right behind her. Too irritated to argue with anyone, Draco turned on his heel and entered a hallway with less students and had a secret passage that would lead him kinda sorta to the Come and Go Room.

When it was just him and the twins in the passage - Ginny only leaving when the hellions told her to stop worrying - Draco placed his disillusionment spell on and quickly walked to the room. He ignored Barnabas' greeting as usual and entered through the door as soon as he was able. When it opened again and the twins were standing there, Draco exploded, "What were you two thinking?! Following me around is not helping me!"

"Sure it is, Blondie," George leaned against the wall, as far away from Draco as he could get. "we're making sure you don't harm yourself and we're ending this crap you started for 'house unity' and throwing you in the middle of it."

"I have no need to be in the middle of it. I have no desire to be sentimental with Gryffindors or have relationships with them."

"That ship has sailed, Blondie," Fred grinned and unabashedly walked forward. "You have a relationship with Georgie and I - you can't say you haven't because you can tell the difference between us, no problem - and you're... talking to the three kiddies."

Draco placed his hands on his hips, "That isn't the concern! What is -" Draco paused as something clicked. "You two did it."

The hellions blinked, confusion etched on their faces. "We did what, exactly?"

"You two brought me to the hospital ward even though I warned you not to!"

George's hands flew into the air and pointed at Fred, "I didn't do it! I warned Freddie and he insisted!"

Draco turned on Fred, his wand slipping into his hand. "You could have ruined everything for me."

Fred sighed, keeping his hands to his side. "I did what was needed. If I hadn't, you wouldn't have your voice, or worse. You needed to go to the blasted Hospital Wing, so I took you there. Anyone we saw, saw you were half-dead and they didn't stop to question us."

"Yeah, we may be pranksters, Blondie, but we wouldn't leave anyone out to die."

When Draco's attention moved to George, the twin slapped a hand to his mouth and continued to point at Fred.

"Thanks, Georgie." Fred rolled his eyes before continuing. "We've already told people we have to follow you around because we were the ones who found you and know what happened. Snape was the one who ordered it, and you know no one goes against him except McGonagall and Dumbledore. They didn't put up much of a fight, though."

"So it's all explained?" Draco marginally lowered his wand, still glaring at Fred. "Nothing about my cover is blown?"

"People go to the Hospital Wing all the time, Blondie. No one's going to think that you're a spy just because you had to go to there or because we found you and took you there ourselves."

Before Draco could utter anything else, the door was flung open. The boy leveled his wand there, even though he knew who had to enter because they were the only ones who would have been able to see the door: the Golden Trio.

Hermione had a small frown in place, Harry looked like he was swallowing a lemon, and Ron looked thoughtful - something that Draco didn't see very often.

"What do you want?"

Ron nudged Harry forward, who took in a large breath. "Alright, Malfoy. You said you could help me, so help me."

* * *

A/N Sorry for the delay. I haven't been in a writing mood. Kinda in a funk. I know what I want to write, and it just ends up like _blah_. Besides that, I finished chapter 39 - which is the longest chapter to date, anyway. YAY! So, I hope you guys liked this chapter. :)


	37. What Matters

Draco looked from Harry to Ron to Hermione and then back to Harry. "What made you change your mind?"

Harry crossed his arms and took a step back so Ron was in the front. "Ron heard something."

"He heard something. Well, that's delightful." Draco rose an eyebrow. "I'm glad to have been told that you actually pay attention. Now, you three will leave and I will go back to yelling at the Hellions."

"Blondie, you weren't..."

"... technically yelling at us."

"I was, and I wasn't finished." Draco twirled his wand in his hand, a glower firmly in place. "You shouldn't have done what you did."

Fred's grin instantly vanished and George took a step back. Fred stormed forwards and grabbed the blonde's wrist gently in his hand so that the wand was pointing at him, "You are going to stop now. If we went back in time, I wouldn't change what I did. You would have still gone to the infirmary, you would have gotten checked over by Madam Pomfrey, you would have had the same reaction, and you would still be here yelling at me. If you are quite done, I think Harry said he wanted some help."

_Well, isn't that telling you?_

_Oh, shut it._

Draco wrenched his arm away and glared at Fred before turning to the Golden Trio who were staring at Fred as if he had another head. "Well, what did Weaslebee hear that made you come here, Potter?"

A hand reached out and Draco saw a long, slim finger touch the bracelet, but Draco just huffed and smacked the offending digit.

"I think Ron should explain that."

"You and Fred and George were in here earlier. I came in and you were... explaining? something to Fred and George."

"Why are you always first, Freddie?" Fred asked, grinning at George.

"Because my letter comes first," George explained.

"Is that really necessary?" Draco asked.

"It sure is."

When Ron opened his mouth to keep going, Draco interrupted him, "Can you really not tell the difference between the two?"

"Err... no. It's impossible. We've been trying for years. Anyway, you were explaining about some things and it made me think that you were telling the truth."

"Very articulate, Weaslebee."

"Aww, Blondie, stop being mean to poor Ron." George sidled up, apparently grateful that he wasn't having to deal with Draco's yelling.

Draco ignored the twin and quirked a brow, "What did I say to change your view of me so drastically?"

"Lots of things."

"Oh, Ron," Hermione sighed, picking up where he left off. "He came to us and told us, so I'll just tell you what he said. You have to gain our trust, pass information to Voldemort, you want the war to end and you have to do something about horcruxes. I have yet to be able to find anything about those yet," she muttered.

"And you won't. Any books that hold that information has been confiscated." Draco wanted to pace, to get his mind straight, but he gripped his right wrist tightly in his left hand.

"Oh, and that you have to pretend to be a cold-hearted bastard," Harry piped up, apparently remembering something Ron told him. "Though why you have to pretend to protect your family doesn't make any sense."

Draco sneered, but Fred placed his head on top of the blonde's. "We'll get to that in a minute," Fred muttered. "Why don't you keep telling us what you overheard, Ron?"

"Just that he claims that he's given everything up for Harry."

"Is that it?" Draco asked, his voice monotone. He glanced around the room with a far off expression on his face. He wasn't even safe to say what he wanted in this room. "And that has to do with me helping Potter, why?"

"Because you have to," Ron muttered. "You said so."

He has to. He has to do this. He has to do that. He has to do everything even if Sev was the better equipped one. Even if he had no idea what he was doing. Even if he didn't actually _want_ to.

"What did Professor Snape tell you while you were strolling along in my mind, Potter?"

"Ehh... well... I have a question first."

Draco rolled his eyes and pushed Fred off him, "Of course you do. Get off me!"

"Nope, not until you call me by my real name."

"You already told him," Hermione pointed out, but Draco only shook his head.

"He lied," Draco sighed, waving Fred off. "He's Fred and George is over there." Draco walked over to the table and set his wand down. Ignoring the incredulous looks the other three were giving him, he pointed at the table. "Your wands will be on the table or I will not help."

Surprisingly, Ron was the first to move, but he sneered at Draco as he did so. "Afraid we'll hex you?"

Draco didn't bother to deign that with a reply. Instead, he closed his eyes and made the room change. The only furniture in the room was the table. There were no windows. There was a soft carpet and torches that lit up the room.

It would have to do. Draco meandered over to the wall and slid down, crossing his legs comfortably. He watched as the twins happily dropped their wands on the table before hurrying over.

As George sat down, there was a soft mewling from Fred's pocket and Draco's eyes widened. "Eira," he whispered, holding out his hands to the twin. Fred just chuckled and pulled the Kneazle out and handed it to Draco before sitting down on the opposite side of the blonde. Eira began purring happily and she began to gently lick his fingers.

Then the other three were standing in front of Draco. "Now what?" Harry managed to grind out.

"Sit and tell me what Severus told you."

"Severus?" Ron asked, staring down at the Kneazle. "Cute cat." He held out a single finger for Eira to smell.

Eira just gave it a sniff before ignoring him. Draco smirked at the redhead, but Ron just shrugged as he sat in front of George. Hermione sat in front of Fred and Harry lowered himself in front of Draco.

"Severus is my godfather. Now, Potter, what did he tell you?"

"Err... you ok, Malfoy?" Harry blurted out.

What? Why would Harry even care? He narrowed his eyes. "I'm just fine, Potter. I will not ask again."

"Something about how my mind should look like."

Draco had enough. He handed Eira to Fred before he asked, "What are you doing here, Potter?"

"I already said -"

"Stop making excuses!" Draco's eyes flared and he couldn't believe how stupid he was. "You were there, after it all happened. You saw what I wanted no one to see. You saw things you had no right to see! Stop lying and tell the truth and stop trying to hide behind people!"

Harry blinked before his bright green eyes narrowed, "You know what? I'm through. I was going to be polite enough to not -"

"Polite? When does Harry Potter ever chose to be polite to me?" Draco slammed his hands on the ground. "You aren't here to learn, Potter! You're here to learn what happened during your last Occlumency lesson."

"Draco," Fred tried, but Draco shook his head violently.

"Well, spit it out, Potter."

"He's here to learn, Malfoy," Hermione sat up straighter. "It doesn't matter what happened at that lesson."

But Draco was staring at Harry who finally snapped, "Why did Snape say you couldn't be put into any harmful situations?"

"Come now, Potter, you and I both know that isn't what you want to ask."

He could still remember being pushed aside for a few minutes. He could remember the conversation Malfoy had with Sev. He could remember the look of pure shock on Harry's face. He could remember seeing the twins tense up.

Silence greeted his words.

"I suppose that conversation is for next time," Draco murmured, sitting back and accepting Eira from Fred. "Which element are you more attuned to, Potter?"

"What does it matter? It probably won't keep him out any better."

Draco somehow refrained from rolling his eyes. "At the moment, your mind is open to anyone who points their wand at you and mutters the incantation. When you're asleep, it's most likely worse. That's because at the moment you have a meagerly put up wall."

"There is not-"

"Do you want my help or not?" Draco couldn't stop his eye from twitching. When he received no answer, he continued. "When you have an adequately built wall - or more of a landscape, as I call it - it's harder for the others to find what they're after and the sooner you can control where they go even if they don't notice."

"Why do you even care what happens?"

Draco debated over what to tell them, but then he decided he was done trying to figure out what to say without giving too much. "If you fail, my whole family will be destroyed."

"So you're doing this for your family?"

"Do you not have ears, Potter? I just said that!" Draco took a calming breath and rubbed the warm necklace he wore. "If you fail, that will be on my shoulders."

"Why?" Hermione spoke up.

"You don't think he would have survived this long without me?"

"He was surviving well enough with us!" Ron spluttered, finally speaking up. The hellions, though, they kept quiet and just watched.

"First year, yes. Second year, possibly. Third year, possibly. Fourth year, no. Now here we are, fifth year, and the answer is once again no."

"What did you do second, third and fourth year?" Hermione asked, pushing her curly brown hair out of her eyes.

Draco smirked at her, "Second year when Potter entered the snake-pit with one of you two. I could have easily turned you two in for drastically breaking school rules, or I could have fed you lies. Third year with that prank with the dementors when you finally got the patronus charm to work decently. It gave you a step up. Fourth year, during the Tournament, I was the one who told Hagrid about the dragons and I was the one who sent you the Gillyweed."

The three Gryffindors blinked stupidly at him before Fred's face was inches from Draco's. "That's bloody brilliant! You should get us some! There's ingredients we could use for -"

Draco waved his hand and, even though Fred's mouth continued to move excitedly, nothing came out. Why the two had never asked for Gillyweed before was amusing, perhaps they had forgotten they were there when he ordered Dobby to give it to Harry. He patted Fred's cheek before turning back to the Golden Trio who were staring at him with shocked expressions.

"But... you're lying!" Harry jumped to his feet, pointing at Draco. "You have no proof."

Huffing, Draco crossed his arms and glared. He didn't, not really. There was only one way, and Severus was the one who proved that it wasn't the smartest way for him at the moment. There was no one else who... "I do, actually. For at least part of one."

"Really?" Harry spat, his hands clenched at his side.

Draco just stood with Eira carefully held in his arms. He walked away to the opposite side of the room before turning around. He grinned, opened his mouth and called, "Dobby!"

There was a _pop!_ and there was Dobby standing in front of Draco, wearing all of his atrocious clothing.

"Master Draco!" Dobby hopped up and down, apparently not realizing there were others behind him. "You hasn't called! You look much better than you did before! Are you eating everything? What about drinking water? Master Draco you -" he whirled around, pointing a finger directly at the twins. "Why is they here, Master Draco? They were..." The house-elves words died off when he saw the Golden Trio. He gave an eep, looked from Draco to Harry with huge eyes before landing on Draco.

"Potter, I'm sure you've meet Dobby."

"How'd you? What is he? What's going on?"

Dobby was wringing his hands, and it was obvious that he had no idea what to do. Draco kneeled and said, very quietly, "Dobby, you can do as you want, now. You don't have to keep doing what you don't want to do."

The house-elf turned towards him, "But sir! The other house-elves will knows! As soon as I stops wearing -"

"Dobby, it is growing hot. All you have to do is say that the clothing is hot and all will be well."

Those huge eyes blinked a few times before a huge smile covered the house-elf's face. 'Cans I keep the hat?"

Draco internally groaned, but he nodded. If it was even possible, the grin grew bigger and then all the handmade clothing from Hermione disappeared except for the tea-cozy he used as a hat.

Then something was being thrust into his hands, "You haven't been eating properly, Master Draco, sirs."

"Dobby?" Harry stood there, shell-shocked. "Weren't you freed?"

The large ears dropped and Dobby nodded, "Harry Potter sir did indeed free Dobby, but Master Draco will always be Master Draco."

"But... but... you've been spying on us?"

"No, Mr Harry Potter sir! I've -"

"Potter, who gave you the Gillyweed for the second task? Who took you to see the dragons? I'm sure if you ask Hagrid he will say that he overheard me talking about it."

"But... but..."

"No buts, Potter. Now leave. Figure out what element you want to use, create some sort of landscape while you meditate twice a day - before you begin school and before you go to bed." He looked at Hermione and Ron who weren't quite as shocked as Harry. "You two must make sure he does or it will all be for nothing. Now leave." He walked over to the door and held it open.

The three didn't bother to argue, they just grabbed their wands and hurried out the door.

* * *

Draco began to pace as soon as the door shut. Furiously so. He still had Eira in his arms, purring away at seemingly nothing. Fred just watched the fluid motions of the younger boy. His pacing soon had a trail on the carpet, and his blonde hair swung gently around his face.

"Freddie," George whispered to him. "You're sunk."

"Yeah," he sighed, knowing nothing would ever come of it.

It had started so simple. He and George just wanted to know what the Slytherin Prince had been hiding. They wanted to get under his skin, something no one had ever been able to do.

Then he showed that he wasn't a prick, which is why they agreed to the Vow. Then, painfully slowly, Draco appeared as a human. His emotions rang out even when he tried to hide them. He was passionate about his family, and he was devoted and he gave everything for them. Draco was selfless, even if he didn't see it himself.

What George said was very true. He was sunk. Extremely so.

"I gotta go see Angelina," George murmured, patting his twin on the shoulder.

Fred just waved him off, not really paying attention. He was content to just stare at Draco.

The door opened and closed, and Draco didn't even seem to realize that someone had left.

He wasn't sure how long they were there with Draco pacing and him watching. When the other boy finally realized what he wanted, Draco paused and glanced at Fred. "You're still here? I thought you left with George."

And that was why everything clicked for him. Draco was the first to actually tell the two apart without them having to tell him.

"Nah, he has to go see Angelina."

Draco looked around, shifting his weight from foot to foot minutely. "What are you still doing here?"

"Watching you." Fred shrugged and stood, as if it didn't really matter. Which it didn't, not really. "What were you thinking about?" When the blonde didn't reply, Fred rolled his eyes and walked forward. "Blondie, you know I won't be able to say anything if you claim it to be important, right?"

It didn't matter that it would hurt like shit if Draco told him.

"I thought you realized I have no need to say that anymore."

Fred stared at the blonde, not really understanding what the Slytherin was telling him. "Huh?"

"Really, and here I thought you were smart."

"Eeh," was all that Fred could manage to get out.

Draco set Eira on the ground and the small Kneazle raced around the room for no apparent reason. The smaller boy watched Eira with a soft smile as she ran about with squeals of delight when he waved his hand and a small mouse appeared.

"Doing something because you have to do it is exhausting," Draco finally said, not looking at Fred.

"Then why not do something you don't have to do?"

"Because I'll become used to it."

Fred walked forward and stood behind Draco, dropping his chin to rest in the silky soft hair. "It's easy. I didn't have to, but I did anyway."

Draco chuckled softly, his shoulders beginning to relax.

When the silence continued on, Fred couldn't help but asking, "Why are you afraid of doing something?"

There was a cry of delight as Eira pounced on the mouse, trapping its tail between her paws. Then she let her prey go and began the chase again.

"I'll become dependent on it."

"Then just be around one person who lets you do it, and you'll only depend on it with that one person."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Sure it does. What things do you _have_ to do?"

Draco was silent again, but then he muttered, "I have to be a... spy of sorts," Fred felt Draco give a tiny shudder of distaste before continuing, "I have to pass information along for both sides, but only the needed information. I have to become better with my landscape so the Dark Lord won't notice anything wrong. I have to get the Golden Trio to trust me," Draco's voice was rising, his anger finally coming out. His anger that he'd been trying to hide. His anger that was beginning to surround Fred, but it didn't matter. Draco needed it. "I have to be rude and obnoxious to people who don't deserve it. I have to be somewhat kind to those I don't want to be around. I have to be hated so that this war is won. I'm _tired_ of having to do these things."

He whirled around, facing Fred, his eyes blazing. He strode forward, pushing Fred back until the taller teen was pressed against the wall. "I'm _sick_ of having to do what everyone tells me to do. I don't want it!"

Fred didn't say anything. The angry magic that swirled around Draco was intoxicating. It made his eyes glow a bright blue, his hair fly around his face, his robes billow around him.

"I want to be a kid who doesn't have to worry about anything besides passing. I want to be a kid who just worries about who he's taking to Hogsmeade. I want to be a kid who can walk around the Black Lake without thinking about ways to survive. I want to be a kid who can do whatever the hell he wants with the worst that can happen to him is a dentition, losing house points, and a letter home. I want to be a kid who gets a Howler from his parents for misbehaving. I want... I want..." Draco fisted his hands in Fred's robes and just clung.

Fred wrapped his arms around Draco, hugging him close as the two sank to the floor. He pulled the fifteen year old onto his lap, wrapping him up tightly in his arms, and holding on. Draco's magic cooled, and his shoulders began to shake, and his fingers held onto Fred.

It didn't matter that Fred could feel his shirt beginning to grow wet. It didn't matter that it was growing past midnight. It didn't matter that Eira finally caught the mouse and placed it in on the floor beside the two.

What mattered was that Draco was in his arms, face buried in his chest. What mattered was that Draco's wall finally broke. What mattered was that he wasn't able to do anything but hold the blonde and him release his emotions.

They stayed there for the rest of the night. Draco curled up in Fred's lap, clinging to the Weasley. Fred had his arms wrapped around the blonde, hoping that there was something else he could do, but knowing there was nothing.


	38. Damn Umbridge

_A/N Really short chapter. These are basically snippets because it doesn't need to be longer, and most of them will be more in detail next chapter. And the characters were like, "Nope, not gonna help you with this chapter, just go to the next one". Blah. So here you go, ch. 38. Also the line thingy isn't appearing, so that's why I made all of this italicized..._

* * *

Dawn had yet to come. The stars were just beginning to dwindle, and the moon was just about to set. It was a time when people should have been sleeping. However, Draco was one of the few awake and functioning within the slumbering castle.

His robes were wrinkle free, his hair was combed exactly right and his head was held up. His strides were confidant and he had a smirk on his face as he passed Mrs. Norris. He gave her a quick nudge in the side with his shoe before continuing on his way.

But Draco's heart was racing and he could feel the sweat rolling down his neck. His hands would tremble if he didn't focus on keeping them still. He had been called to the Headmaster's Office.

He stood in front of the gargoyle and spoke the password, "Toffee Eclair" and the stone beast jumped to the side to reveal the moving staircase. He waited impatiently at the entrance, not getting on the stairs until they had settled.

Then he began the climb up, working desperately not to grip his robes. Finally he stood in front of the door. He raised a hand to knock, but his eyes narrowed and he just strode in.

Dumbledore was already sitting behind his desk, his fingers steepled. Draco carefully kept his eyes downcast so as not to meet the probing eyes of the Headmaster. If he did, he didn't want to think about what the consequences would be.

"Mr. Malfoy, would you like to sit? And perhaps, a lemon drop?"

"No, thank you." Draco moved to the chair, lying his hands on top so he had something to do with his fingers. They flexed and bent, barely visible to the eye, but enough for Draco to focus on the conversation and not his concerns.

"Straight to business then, Mr. Malfoy. Do you know why I asked you here?"

"Yes, sir. Though why at this hour, I would like to know."

"Ah, that might be a bit odd, but I figured as soon as we get this conversation out of the way, we will not have to worry about it." Dumbledore's arm twitched, but his voice was low and seemed calm. "What you did, Mr. Malfoy, leaves me very curious as to your reasons behind the actions."

"I believe I said it clear enough for even the first years to understand, Headmaster."

"You're little speech, yes. Mr. Malfoy, do you recall our conversation earlier this school year?"

"I am aware of it, yes."

"Please correct me if I am wrong, but did we not agree that you are needed to keep an eye on Professor Umbridge?"

"Headmaster, you seem a bit unclear," Draco shifted his hair out of his face, his eyes darting to where the Phoenix was perched before retreating back to the top of the chair. "You ordered me, Professor, when you are not in the position to do so."

"I am your Headmaster, Mr. Malfoy."

"Yes, you are. However, that leaves you in the position over my school career, not in my business."

"Mr. Malfoy, raise your eyes." Draco's body barely tensed at the order, but he refused to obey. Dumbledore's next words made Draco grip the material of the chair harder, his knuckles turning white. "You give me the impression that you are hiding something from me, Mr. Malfoy."

"I am."

"Oh? Here I thought you wouldn't tell me what it is."

"I won't, Professor."

"Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore's voice, which had been kind throughout most of their conversation, turned hard. "If you are going to be a spy in this war, you will need to do -"

"No," Draco held back his trembling and ground down on his teeth to center himself. "I will do what needs to be done. That does not include Umbridge."

"Professor Umbridge, Mr. Malfoy."

As if he would call her that, so he ignored the Headmaster's words. "There is no dire need for me to keep an eye on her, she is from the Ministry who's in denial of the Dark Lord. She is a threat to you, not to me."

"You do not want Professor Umbridge to be your enemy."

"She wouldn't be my enemy if you had not told me to gain her good faith." Draco took a step back, releasing the fabric and trying to keep his voice calm and even. There was a hard knot of anger in his stomach, and he tried to keep it firmly under control.

"Her good faith is needed."

"Why?"

"If we can not get her under control -"

"She does not work for the Dark Lord. That is my concern. She does not overlap into that."

"Mr. Malfoy, I do not believe that your parents will approve -"

"I don't care if they approve. My goal in this is protecting them where I can. Their protection and mine have nothing to do with her. As such, I am not going to waste my time with her." Draco kept his stony facade in place, keeping his hands close to his sides in fists. "Is there anything else you wish to discuss or is that all?"

"What of relaying information?"

"That will continue as is. If I learn of anything relevant that Professor Snape does not, that information will be passed onto you. However, we both know that the possibility of that is approximately zero." Draco turned his back to the headmaster, making the back of his neck crawl. However, he kept walking until he got to the door, where he paused. "What else is there to tell me?"

"School unity -"

"Will continue as -"

"Mr. Malfoy, I do not take kindly to being interrupted." Draco took a deep breath, hoping that his body didn't tense up. "As I was saying, school unity is becoming more obvious. There are less fights and more... debates, as we'll call them."

"I see." Though if Draco was being honest, he didn't see at all

"Mr. Zabini has been doing an artfully good job at keeping all the Slytherins in line, don't you think, Mr. Malfoy?" Draco turned his head to look over his shoulder at the headmaster's desk. "I would hate to see all the hard work he did be for nothing, don't you agree?" When the Slytherin didn't reply, Dumbledore waved a hand, "That is all, Mr. Malfoy. Don't be late for breakfast."

* * *

_He had to stay calm. He had to stay calm. He had to stay calm._

He didn't storm, he didn't stomp. He walked gracefully as if he didn't have a care in the world. Like he didn't feel anything. Like he didn't feel anger rising higher and higher and higher.

When a second year brushed past him, Draco didn't snap. He didn't point his wand at him. He didn't curse the blasted brat for not looking where he was going.

_Deep breaths. Stay calm. Deep breaths. Stay calm._

Malfoy was fighting to come out, Draco could feel it. He could feel the other fighting to have access of his limbs. He could feel himself trembling over the fight, but he clung and kept a stony face even after the second year ran away.

He just wanted the war to be done and over with. His mind went back to Horcruxes and how the Dark Lord split his soul, but he still couldn't think of what the others could possibly be.

Deciding to skip breakfast to do something similar to disobeying, Draco turned around and marched to the Come and Go Room. He could skip potions, Sev wouldn't mind, most likely. His excuse would be that he still didn't feel good.

As soon as he entered, he collapsed on the hammock and closed his eyes. It wasn't that bad if he missed any classes. He was ahead in all of them. Besides, all he had was Potions, Charms, Arithmancy, and Defense. He could miss them for a day.

He was just so tired. All the anger just seemed to flow away. He didn't have the strength to get up. He just wanted to sleep.

So he curled up, grabbing a pillow and curling his body up so that he engulfed it. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep and his anger to just wash away.

* * *

"Where is Mr. Malfoy?"

No one spoke up.

"Well, come on. I can't hear you. I asked, where is Mr. Malfoy?"

Still, no one spoke up.

"No one knows where Mr. Malfoy is? He has no excuse? He was, after all, released from the Hospital Wing. If one of you see him, be sure to tell him that he has detention with me, tonight. If he is not there, then it will be extended for the whole week. Will someone relay that message to him?"

Once again there was only silence.

"Excellent."

* * *

"Hey, kiddies!" Fred had his arm over his brother's shoulders, and the two were ginning at the younger three. "How was McGonagall?"

"Boring," the two boys immediately replied, cringing only a little when Hermione huffed at them. Ron smiled at her and Harry kept speaking, "What Ron means, is that something more interesting happened during Defense."

"You guys actually..."

"... managed to learn..."

"... something from the old toad?"

Hermione waved them off, "Nothing like that, though I don't know why Harry would call it interesting." When Harry didn't offer a reply she sighed and asked, "Do you know anyone other than Harry that's had detention with her?"

Fred dropped his arm and glared, George looking the same way. "Lee."

"What did she do?"

"Hermione, we know about the blood quill. We even sent in a letter to the Ministry with evidence that she's using dark magic at school for detentions. Lee said it hurts like hell when you write. You guys didn't get landed in it, did you?" George crossed his arms while Fred seemed to freeze.

Before Ron could answer, Fred beat him to it, "Who do you share the class with?"

"Slytherins." The three of them spoke as one.

"Shit, please tell me I'm thinking of the worst case possible."

Harry shook his head, biting his lip. "No, Malfoy got one because he never showed up."

"Though he probably would have ended with one anyway because of what he did in the Great Hall," Hermione pointed out. "She loves coming up with ways to make everyone suffer."

"Harry, mate, can we borrow the map?"

Fred didn't even bother waiting, he just took off at a jog towards the portrait hole when Harry answered George's question. "Yeah, and you'd best tell him it's tonight. If he doesn't show, she'll extend it for the rest of the week."

"Harry, why does it matter that Malfoy got the -"

Fred couldn't hear anymore. He was out of the common room and heading towards the Come and Go Room. He couldn't think of anywhere else the blonde would have gone.

All the way there, he could only think, _Damn Umbridge_.

* * *

A/N Also... I'm sorry it took a while for this to be posted. I've already had two tests this semester and this is also not the only story I'm working on. Lol. I have two originals, two other this one and two other fanfictions - one of which my mommy (well, my bestfriend's mom, but technically her family is my second family.) so yeah... But no worries, I absolutely love this story, and I will not be stopping it, but I'm just letting you know it might be a while between updates - two weeks at the most, though. :D Hopefully this is making sense, I'm writing this half-asleep... LOL


	39. Style

A/N Just so you guys know, when a blood quill is used - in my story, at least - the words that they write appear on their opposite hands. :D

Also, there is a part where I took some lines - okay, a lot of lines - from the fifth book. And this, I believe, is the longest chapter to date... Hope you guys like it!

* * *

"No."

Draco glared at Fred, crossing his arms. "You do not get a say in the matter." That was that. They were standing in the middle of the Come and Go Room. The couch was behind Fred and the table in front of Draco.

Fred was looming over Draco, a frown marring his face. "If you go, then-"

"You are failing to realize that I am going. Stop this nonsense."

"Fred, if he doesn't go, then it'll just be worse." George walked up behind his brother and laid a hand on the obviously tense shoulder of his brother. "He'll get a weeks worth if he doesn't."

"I know, but..."

"Stop," Draco commanded, crossing his arms across his chest. His lips formed a hard frown and he couldn't help but feel angry. "It's something that I will have to deal with."

"But how are you going to do that?"

"By not reacting until I get to the room." Draco waved a dismissive hand and headed to the door, but Fred was in his way. "Move out of the way, Fred. I cannot be late."

"How are you going to get back here if you're in too much pain?"

"I do not care for your sentiment."

"I know you don't, and you'll just have to deal with it." Fred towered over the blonde. "You are not going."

Draco smirked, propping a hand on his hip, "I am going, and that is final. You do not want to push me in this matter." He pulled out his wand and twirled it, his nimble fingers moving it back and forth.

Fred had his own out, "I'll freeze you, if need be."

"Freddie," George shook his head, coming up behind his brother and placing a hand on his shoulder again. "What do you think she would do if he doesn't show up?"

"It doesn't matter! You heard what that greasy, slime ball of a Professor said! Draco can't go through anything that could cause him pain because it'll trigger his... fit things. So no, he can't go!"

"I have to go. If I don't, then it will be worse. Simple as that. Do not force my hand." Draco leveled his wand directly at Fred, even though he wished he didn't have to.

"Merlin, you two are being idiots," George muttered, covering his eyes with his free hand.

"Excuse me?"

"Freddie more so than you, Blondie. How many pranks have we done? Many! You would think he could come up with a way for you not to get hurt, but no, he leaves that up to me." He grinned, lowering his hand. He used his free hand to take the quill out from behind his ear, walking over to place it on the table.

"What?" Fred narrowed his eyes at his brother. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just going to blame it on your high emotions at the moment." George waved a hand before hurrying over to grab the other two by the arms and dragged them to a chair in front of the table. "This will take a while, but you'll have to learn how to do it in about five minutes so Blondie won't be late." On the table was a quill and a piece of parchment.

"Freddie, disillusion yourself and Blondie you pick up the quill." When neither moved, he rolled his eyes. "Don't you guys trust me? Blondie won't be in pain and Freddie will be able to also keep an eye on the toad. Win win situation, if Freddie doesn't mind a bit of pain."

Draco had no idea what was going through George's head. How was Fred supposed to take his pain for him? He had to hold the quill, and that was where everything stemmed from. If Draco wasn't holding the quill, Umbridge would know immediately.

But he decided to let George continue on. So, he sat. He looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow at Fred. He wasn't going to deny a chance to avoid the pain that was sure to come if an alternative was given.

Fred, after another few seconds, waved his wand and disillusioned himself.

"Freddie, come here. This is what you two will do."

* * *

"Mr. Malfoy, right on time." The toad's voice was disgusting, fitting well with the horrendous room. Those creepy cats were all staring at Draco, light mewing filling the room.

"Of course."

The toad was sitting behind her desk, beady eyes fixed on the younger boy. "Do you know why you're here?"

"Of course."

"Very well. Now, before you begin, there is one thing we must discuss. I am not surprised you gave me back my gift, but you did it in front of everyone."

That's all she said. She didn't give anything for Draco to go off of.

"Of course. As you said, Professor, I am a Malfoy. There are certain standards I must live up to. In that first meeting, you mentioned that you and I are the same. Perhaps you understand."

The toad's eyes narrowed, and she seemed to ignore what Draco said. "Have a seat, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco smirked and went to the only seat and desk in the office. On it was a piece of parchment and a quill. The boy moved over there and sat down. He picked up the quill and raised an eyebrow at the toad.

Fred, who had been standing next to Draco, walked silently behind the blonde and waited. He was glaring at the woman, his hands gripping the back of the blonde's chair.

The toad, seeming to be content to stay behind her desk, gave a flick of her wand and the words_ I Will Respect My Betters_ appeared at the top of the parchment.

Fred took a deep, quiet breath before bringing his body flush against the chair. He let his arms reach around Draco. His left hand laid flat across Draco's, the younger boy's fingers encompassed by Fred's. Fred's right hand went to the quill and grasped it, with Draco's fingers moving for a second to lay on top of Fred's so he was no longer touching the quill.

Fred placed his forehead on Draco's left shoulder, wishing things were a bit different.

"Writing words, Professor?"

"I'm sure the meaning of them will sink in. You will write for an hour and then you will be dismissed."

Fred grinned, he could definitely handle writing for an hour. He brought his head so it was his chin that rested on the blonde. So, going slowly to get the feel of writing that way again, he wrote: _I Will Respect my Betters_. When nothing happened, Fred almost gave a relieved sigh. Maybe they weren't using a blood quill, but the words that he wrote were red and there was no ink.

Well, it was still good just to find out for sure. It was also a good thing Draco had charmed Fred so that whatever the Weasley wrote, it came out in the blonde's handwriting.

So he wrote again, and again and again. The back of his left hand started to itch, badly. When Fred looked over to look, he saw the words he was writing there before slowly disappearing. The skin was red and it began to itch like crazy. Fred had to give a light shiver, for everything was showing through the disillusionment charm to appear on Draco.

"Is there a problem, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco raised his head, accidently bumping into Fred's shoulder. But the blonde let nothing show on his face that he had hit something solid. "Of course not, Professor. I was just trying to decide where you received this pen."

"Oh, I've had it in my family for generations."

Draco made a noncommittal sound before looking back down. Taking his cue, Fred began writing. After the fifth time, he had to be grateful for the silencing charm George had placed on him before entering the room.

A low groan sounded in his head, but he continued on. The words that were being etched onto his hand left it red and raw - he could tell even if he couldn't see the inflamed skin - and they were thankfully showing on Draco's skin. Droplets of blood fell from Fred's hand to slide down Draco's.

Draco seemed to tense for a second before he sighed. He spread his fingers of his left hand so Fred's would slip between them. Once that happened, Draco twined his fingers with Fred's and closed his hand in a fist, Fred's hand over compassing his own.

Fred squeezed Draco's hand and continued to write, his hand flinching every so often as the words dug into his skin.

The hour finally ended. Fred carefully laid the pen down and straightened. If he hadn't been silenced, a groan would have been heard as his back popped. He kept his hand gripped in Draco's so that she could see that his hand really was bloody if she got up. Though, everything would be ruined if she came to actually inspect it.

She didn't even bother to stand. She just gave him a small smile and waved him towards the door. "Hopefully, Mr. Malfoy, the next time we speak, we won't come to a disagreement."

Fred caught the edge of a smirk, "Perhaps."

He carefully kept his hand on Draco's as he was lead to the door, very cautious to move as he did so the old toad didn't catch anything amiss. They were soon out and heading to the Come and Go Room, Draco pulling his arm free.

When they were in there, they found George lying on the couch with a notebook in his hands while a quill and ink bottle were on the table right beside him. "If we add... or maybe we could... no, no, no," he was muttering to himself, picking up the quill to twirl his fingers around. "Got it! But we'd need..."

"See you're busy, bro," Fred muttered as he took the disillusionment spell off as he rubbed at his aching hand.

"Fred!" George sat up, tossing the notebook onto the table and rushing to his brother's side. "Did it work? Where's Blondie? She didn't catch you, did she? I was positive it would work!"

"It did," Draco appeared from behind Fred, looking a bit pale.

Fred grinned at him, hoping he wasn't pale because of what happened. "The old toad didn't notice the difference."

Wrappings appeared in George's hands before he tossed it over to his twin. Fred, thankful for them, caught it and tried to work it around his hand.

Before he knew what was happening, Draco slapped his hand, pointed his wand at the inflamed skin and muttered, "Scourgify," which caused Fred to flinch before he gave another flick and Fred's hand was then bandaged.

Draco sighed, pointed at his own hand, and repeated the process of wrapping his hand on himself. "Do you hellions still want your christmas gifts or not?"

The two had identical smirks on their faces. "Yes, please. We want our really late gifts!"

Draco stared at the two in front of him, a smile seeming to be stamped down multiple times before he rolled his eyes. Fred's eyes went down to the blonde's wrist and tapped the bracelet. "Doing something you don't want to do."

The Slytherin rose an eyebrow, "Then I suppose you don't want your gifts?"

George's elbow connected with Fred's side, but Fred's grin only grew, "'course we still want it."

"Dobby," Draco called out and a crack! later, there was the overly protective house-elf standing in between them and Draco.

The tiny creature turned around and glared at the twins. "Yes, Master Draco?"

"Do you still have the gift I asked you to hold onto?"

"Yes, I does!"

Draco held out his hand, a soft smile on his face. "I'll take it now."

"Of course!" Dobby snapped his fingers and a box was in Draco's palm. "Is that all Dobby can do for you, sir? Oh, cookies!" Another snap, and the tin was on top of the other box.

George leaned over and whispered in Fred's ear, "Is that his way to solve anything? Cookies?"

"Well, it's like how Lupin's is always chocolate."

"Maybe it's just because chocolate is yummy?"

"Georgie, have we ever done a study on chocolate before?"

There was another crack!, but neither really noticed. "I don't believe so, no. We should get on that right away."

"I do like how you think."

"I'll just keep it, then."

George reached out and snatched the box from Draco, "That isn't necessary, Blondie. We'll happily take it."

Sitting, Fred yanked his twin down so they could see what was inside it. While his brother started to open it, Fred went through some things in his head what it could be. It could be something that was shrunken down to fit. Maybe it was something that actually fit in the box. If that was so, it wasn't very big. Maybe some sort of new quills or journals.

"A pouch?" George lifted it up, blinking his eyes a few time before he opened it and peered inside. "Wicked!"

"What?" Fred leaned over to stare at his brother and his mouth fell open.

It was huge. There were shelves upon shelves of different ingredients, books, notebooks, quills, a table, stuff for brewing, everything they needed to create things.

"Draco," Fred whispered, reaching in and pulling out some unicorn's hair. "How did you-"

"Connections," he waved dismissively.

The two looked up at him, Fred not knowing what to say.

The blonde shifted his weight from foot to foot. Eira bounded up and rubbed her face against his ankle. He bent down and picked her up, stroking her soft fur. "I know it doesn't come anywhere near what you spent on Eira, but it was one of the few things I -"

"You ramble when embarrassed," George grinned.

The tiny blush that colored the blonde's cheeks was barely noticeable, "And then blush when you're caught." Fred smirked, cocking his head to the side.

"This is an amazing gift. We..."

"... don't know what to say except for thank you, and..."

"... to stop comparing our gift with yours. It's perfect."

Fred nodded in agreement before going up to Draco and hugging him, chuckling at the feeling of Eira purring in between their chests. Seconds later, he was pushed aside by his laughing arse brother so that he could have a turn hugging the Slytherin who was in too much shock to do anything but let it happen.

But then he shook himself and gave a cocky smile before saying, "Then I suppose you two hellions don't want the other part of your gift then?"

"Oh, we want it! We want it!"

"Hmmm. Alright then."

* * *

Pup was once again on top of Fred's head as the twin was moving around, dodging spell after spell. Pup was very much thankful for the charm that kept him in place and not falling onto the floor.

He sent a glance over at Blaise, who was sparring with Ginny. The two were throwing hex after hex at each other, Ginny laughing and Blaise having an almost there smile. Perhaps he should tell the Gryffindors that he could play chess overly well. Pup did remember the end of feast their first year when Dumbledore said that Ron could play. Perhaps he was good enough to beat Blaise, though he doubted it.

"Alright, we're going to work on the patronus spell," Harry called out. "You have to think of something happy, concentrate fully on that memory, and then cast. It's extremely difficult, so don't be miffed if you can't get it right away."

So people started working on it. Pup watched, amused as most people failed. Blaise was scowling, Ginny was staring at her wand in shock, Ron was waving his wand around. However, there were three who were able to get theirs right away: Hermione with her otter, Luna Lovegood with her hare, and Cho Chang with her swan.

The twins were just laughing at each other as the best thing they could conjure were silver mists.

Then everything went silent. They all heard, "Hi, Dobby! What are you - what's wrong?"

Dobby was shaking, and Pup wanted to change back and tell him it was ok. Instead, he watched as Dobby's eyes widened and the three patronus disappeared. "Harry Potter, sir... Harry Potter, sir... Dobby has come to warn you... but the house-elves have been warned not to tell..." He ran to the wall and started banging his head against it repeatedly.

Pup let out a growl and hopped up from his place and hurried over to Dobby, rushing in between people's legs to get there. When he reached there, he barked out a very sharp bark that caught the elves attention.

Dobby looked down with watery eyes as Harry pushed his way forward. Pup sat, his tail wrapped around his paws as his tall ears stood straight up. He barked again, wishing he could just tell Dobby to tell them what happened.

"What's happened, Dobby?" Harry asked, barely casting a look at Pup. Fred was there in seconds, swooping up the fox and holding him in his arms. Pup gave a tiny snort, but stayed where he was.

"Harry Potter... she... she..."

"Who's 'she', Dobby?"

Pup let out a very annoyed bark. Who else could 'she' be? Harry seemed to understand. "Umbridge?" When Dobby nodded, he asked again. "What about her? Dobby - she hasn't found out about this - about us - about the D.A." Dobby just looked up, terror in his wide eyes as he beat his hands against his head. "Is she coming?"

"Yes, Harry Potter, yes!"

Pup let out a tiny little mewl. It wouldn't have happened if he hadn't asked Dobby to keep watch and warn them if anything was going to happen. He had to, of course, and Dobby would do it for him, but he didn't want the house-elf to put himself in harms way.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Harry bellowed. "RUN!"

Fred took off, racing out of the room after Harry, but before they could reach the portrait, the two tripped and fell down hard. "PROFESSOR! I've got two!" Fred twisted so he landed on his back, a gust of air leaving him.

Umbridge came around the corner out of breath, but sneering at the two. "It's him! Excellent, Theodore, excellent, oh, very good. And two of them - a hundred points to Slytherin! I'll take them from here... oh... what is that you're holding, Mr. Weasley?"

Fred kept his mouth shut, but Harry spoke up for him when Umbridge pointed her wand at Pup, "His familiar."

She ignored Fred's scowling face and was about to wave her wand. Fred twisted and rolled away at the burst of light. "Mr. Weasley, if it is indeed a familiar, you should not be wary of a simple charm that changes an Animagus back into their human form."

"It's illegal to use magic on someone's familiar," Fred bit out. Pup sighed in relief, apparently Fred had read about familiars before and the laws concerning them.

Umbridge scowled, "It is a simple test to make sure it is indeed your familiar."

"You cannot use magic on him! I can take you to court and have you thrown in Azkaban if you do!"

She sniffed before stowing her wand away. "Stand up, you two!"

The two stood, glaring at her, but they followed her along. Nott was trailing along until she turned to him and snapped out, "What are you still doing here? Tell the others to look in the library - anybody out of breath - check the bathrooms, Miss Parkinson can check the girls' - off you go - and you two," she added very quietly to the two Gryffindors as Nott walked away. "You can come with me to the headmaster's office."

It didn't take long to get to the gargoyle. "Fizzing Whizbee," she called out and dragged the two onto the moving staircase. Umbridge didn't bother to knock the griffin knocker. Instead, she just pushed to door open and entered.

Pup huddled deeper into Fred's arm, shaking from the amount of people in the room, terrified someone would figure it out. Dumbledore was behind his desk, McGonagall stood like a statue beside him, Fudge - the blasted Minister of Magic who was naive as hell - was beside the fire with a pleased expression on his face, a black wizard he thought was called Kingsley Shacklebolt, someone he barely remembered as Dawlish, and Percy Weasley was also there. From the way Fred tensed, it was probably because Percy wasn't there to support them.

"Well, well, well, well," Fudge sounded like he was almost giggling.

"They were heading back to Gryffindor Tower. The Nott boy cornered them both. However, before we go about asking them about what they were doing, I have a question about familiars, Minister."

"What is it, Dolares?" Pup flattened his ears even as Fred brought up his free arm to try to cover him.

"What are the rules of magic that concern them?"

"You can't use magic on them, of course. You know this, Dolares."

"What if they were claimed as familiars, but were actually an animagus?"

"Only if you have proof. Dolares, what is this all about?" There was silence before Fudge continued on talking, "Well, what are you holding, Weasley?"

Pup tried to burrow deeper, but he couldn't without the risk of falling. Fred didn't answer.

"Fred! The minister asked you something."

Pup rose his head just enough to see Fred sneering at his brother, but he still remained silent.

"Mr. Weasley, if we may see your familiar?" Dumbledore's voice rang out, and he could feel Fred shift.

Knowing there was no other way, and that Fred would continue to disobey, Pup shook himself and stood so he could stand on Fred's arm. His ears were lying flat on his skull, his fur puffed up, and his tail held low as he bared his fangs at everyone.

He hissed when Fudge stepped closer. However, the minister proved how dimwitted he was when he extended a finger at Pup. Waiting until it was close, Pup reached forward and snapped the offending digit before giving a sharp, high pitched bark.

Fudge cursed as he stepped backward. The growls from Pup intensified when Umbridge pointed her wand at him.

"Professor Umbridge, there are no markings that do not attribute to make him an Animagus. The white around his throat is odd, but I don't recall seeing a student wearing a choker around their neck constantly, do you?" McGonagall asked, coming to stand between Fred and the toad.

Again, there was silence before a muttered, "No."

"Very well, lets continue on, shall we?"

Fudge seemed to collect himself and asked, "Well, Potter... I expect you know why you are here?"

"Yeh - no."

Pup sat back down, not believing that Harry was as stupid as that.

"I beg your pardon?"

"No," at least the answer was firmer.

"You don't know why you are here?"

"No, I don't."

"What about you, Weasley?"

"Not a clue."

"So you have no idea why Professor Umbridge has brought you to this office? You are not aware that you have broken any school rules?"

Pup looked up and saw Fred tilt his head in confusion, a tiny smirk in place. "School rules? No."

"Or Ministry decrees?"

"Not that I'm aware of." Harry answered.

"So it's news to you, is it, that an illegal student organization has been discovered within this school?"

"Yes, it is," Harry replied, attempting to look innocent and failing. Pup was sure they were doomed.

"I think, Minister, we might make better progress if I fetch our informant," Umbridge spoke up again.

"Yes, yes, do. There's nothing like a good witness is there, Dumbledore?" Fudge looked over at Dumbledore, a look of triumph clearly shown.

"Nothing at all, Cornelius."

Pup huffed and jumped to Fred's shoulder. They had already seen him, there was no point in trying to hide. McGonagall turned around while they waited. "You have a beautiful familiar, Mr. Weasley."

"Thank you."

"Though I am curious," her voice dropped so no one could overhear her, "why we have never seen him before?"

"He gets bored easily, so he just wanders around. You know, out of sight type of thing. But if you ask anyone in Gryffindor, they'll all tell you they've seen him."

McGonagall smiled and asked, "Is it at all possible to pet him?"

"I can't order him around. You know that, Professor. It's totally up to him."

She held out a finger to let Pup sniff it, though he thought it was utterly weird and disgusting. Though, she didn't smell all that bad. He gave a small sniff. It wouldn't be too bad to let her pet him. After all, she did keep Umbridge and her wand away from him.

McGonagall smiled and took that single finger and gently stroked his head. "He really is beautiful. You are taking this situation seriously, Mr. Weasley."

Draco could tell without even looking that Fred started to grin, "There are times to be serious, Professor."

"Right you are. She's back."

"Don't be scared, dear, don't be frightened," Umbridge brought a girl forward, someone from Ravenclaw. "It's quite all right, now. You have done the right thing. The minister is very pleased with you. He'll be telling your mother what a good girl you've been. Marietta's mother, Minister, is Madam Edgecombe from the Department of Magical Transportation. Floo Network office - she's been helping us police the Hogwarts fire, you know."

"Jolly good, jolly good! Like mother, like daughter, eh? Well, come on, now, dear, look up, don't be shy, let's hear what you've got to - galloping gargoyles!"

Pup let out a sharp bark, but no one paid any attention to him. They were looking from the Minister - who had jumped backwards into the fire and was now trying to stop the flames from eating his cloak - to Marietta - who had close-set purple pustules that formed the word SNEAK on her forehead.

"Never mind the spots now, dear. Just take your robes away from your mouth and tell the Minister -"

But the girl just wailed and shook her head, tears falling down her purple face.

"Oh, very well, you silly girl, I'll tell him. Well, Minister, Miss Edgecombe here came to my office shortly after dinner this evening and told me she had something she wanted to tell me. She said that if I proceeded to a secret room on the seventh floor, sometimes known as the Room of Requirement, I would find out something to my advantage. I questioned her a little further and she admitted that there was to be some kind of meeting there. Unfortunately at that point this hex came into operation and upon catching sight of her face in my mirror the girl became too distressed to tell me anymore." Umbridge took in a huge breath, as if she had wasted all her energy trying to explain it all.

"Well, now. It is very brave of you, my dear, coming to tell Professor Umbridge, you did exactly the right thing. Now, will you tell me what happened at this meeting? What was its purpose? Who was there?" When Marietta shook her head, Fudge huffed and barked out, "Haven't we got a counter jinx for this? So she can speak freely?"

Hermione was brilliant.

"I have not yet managed to find one. But it doesn't matter if she won't speak, I can take up the story from here. You will remember, Minister, that I sent you a report back in October that Potter had met a number of fellow students in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade -"

"And what is your evidence for that?" McGonagall snapped.

"I have testimony from Willy Widdershins, Minerva, who happened to be in the bar at the time. He was heavily bandaged, it is true, but his hearing was quite unimpaired. He heard every word Potter said and hastened straight to the school to report to me -"

"Oh, so that's why he wasn't prosecuted for setting up all those regurgitating toilets." She raised her eyebrows at Fudge. "What an interesting insight into our justice system!"

Bored since he couldn't say or do anything, Pup jumped off of Fred and landed on the floor to explore, keeping his ears open to still listen to the conversation.

"Don't let him leave!" Umbridge shrieked.

Pup didn't listen, he just continued to patter around, sniffing at things and poking them with a paw.

"I can't tell him what to do," Fred replied. "He does what he wants when he wants."

The rest of the conversation passed while he meandered his way up to the phoenix. He cocked his head and gave a tiny bark. The phoenix just stared at him before giving him a small trill.

"What do you mean by shaking your head, dear?"

Pup looked up, a barking laugh leaving him. McGonagall looked down at him and smiled, "I would have thought her meaning was quite clear. There have been no secret meetings for the past six months. Is that correct, Miss Edgecombe?"

The girl nodded.

"But there was a meeting tonight!" Umbridge yelled loudly, causing Pup to lower his ears again and hiss. "There was a meeting, Miss Edgecombe, you told me about it, in the Room of Requirement! And Potter was the leader, was he not, Potter organized it, Potter - why are you shaking your head, girl?"

Fred spoke up, chuckling, "Well, usually when a person shakes their head they mean 'no'."

"Thank you, Mr. Weasley, for explaining that." McGonagall once again spoke. "Unless Miss Edgecombe is using a form of sign language as yet unknown to humans -"

Again Pup looked away, not interested when Umbridge started to shake the girl. He gave a bark and trotted over to Fred and sat in front of him. When the hellion seemed to ignore him, he gave another ear piercing bark that caused everyone to flinch.

"I believe he would like you to pick him up, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore chuckled.

Fred complied, saying, "If that's all, I would like to return to the Common Room."

"Not so fast, Weasley," Umbridge snapped. She pulled something out of her robes and handed it to Fudge.

"Excellent. Excellent, Dolores. And... by thunder..." Pup sighed when he looked away from Fudge - who was still reading the list of names - to stare at Dumbledore. "See what they've named themselves? Dumbledore's Army."

Dumbledore took the paper, looked at it, and smiled. The old goat smiled. "Well, the game is up. Would you like a written confession from me, Cornelius - or will my statement before these witnesses suffice?"

"Statement?" Fudge asked, completely blindsided. "What - I don't -?"

"Dumbledore's Army, Cornelius," Dumbledore spoke slowly, as if to a child. "Not Potter's Army. Dumbledore's Army."

"But - but -" Then he understood. Fudge jumped back, yelped, and leaped out of the fire again. "You?"

"That's right."

"You organized this?"

"I did."

"You recruited these students for - for your army?"

"Tonight was supposed to be the first meeting. Merely to see whether they would be interested in joining me. I see now that it was a mistake to invite Miss Edgecombe, of course."

"Then you have been plotting against me!"

"That's right."

"NO!" Pup gave a low growl at Harry's shout. "No - Professor Dumbledore!"

"Be quiet, Harry, or I am afraid you will have to leave my office."

"Yes, shut up, Potter!" Barked Fudge, Pup actually in agreement with the idiot for once. "Well, well, well - I came here tonight expecting to expel Potter and instead -"

"Instead you get to arrest me. It's like losing a Knut and finding a Galleon, isn't it?"

"Weasley! Weasley, have you written it all down, everything he's said, his confession, have you got it?"

"Yes, sir, I think so, sir!" Percy was looking at his notes, obviously pleased with himself.

"Oh, yes, something to be quite proud of," Fred snarled. Percy took a step back before sticking his nose in the air.

"The bit about how he's been trying to build up an army against the Ministry, how he's been working to destabilize me?"

"Yes, sir, I've got, yes!"

"Very well, then. Duplicate your notes, Weasley, and send a copy to the Daily Prophet at once. If we send a fast owl we should make the morning edition!" Percy fled and Fudge turned back to Dumbledore. "You will now be escorted back to the Ministry, where you will be formally charged and then sent to Azkaban to await trial."

"Ah, yes. Yes, I thought we might hit that little snag."

"Snag? I see no snag, Dumbledore!"

"Well, I'm afraid I do."

"Oh really?"

"Well - it's just that you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to - what is the phrase? 'Come quietly.' I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course - but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of other things I would rather be doing."

The guy Pup recalled vaguely pushed off the wall and moved towards Dumbledore.

"Don't be silly, Dawlish," Dumbledore smiled kindly at the man. "I'm sure you are an excellent Auror, I seem to remember that you achieved 'Outstanding' in all your N.E.W.T.s, but if you attempt to - er - 'bring me in' by force, I will have to hurt you."

"So," Fudge sneered, "you intend to take on Dawlish, Shacklebolt, Dolores, and myself single-handed, do you, Dumbledore?"

"Merlin's beard, no. Not unless you are foolish enough to force me to."

"He will not be single-handed!" McGonagall shouted, making a reach for her wand in her robes.

"Oh yes he will, Minerva! Hogwarts needs you!" Dumbledore said sharply, his smile dropping from his face.

"Enough of this rubbish!" Fudge snapped, his own wand in his hand. "Dawlish! Shacklebolt! Take him!"

A streak of silver light flashed around the room. A sound like a bang. The ground trembled. Pup letting out barks when he couldn't see from the light or hear from the bang. Portraits yelled, Fawkes screeched, dust was everywhere. There was someone yelling, "No!" The sound of glass breaking. Scuffling footsteps. A groan. Silence.

When Pup could see and hear again, Fred was sitting on the ground next to Harry with McGonagall standing in front of them. Another glance around showed that Ravenclaw chit was behind them.

"Are you alright?" Dumbledore asked, coming through the smoke towards them.

"Yes!" Professor McGonagall stood, pulling the students up.

The smoke cleared. The office was a wreck. Dumbledore's desk was overturned, the other desks were knocked to the floor, the silver instruments strewn across the floor in pieces. Fudge, Umbridge, Kingsley, and Dawlish were motionless on the floor. The phoenix was flying in wide circles above them, singing quietly.

"Unfortunately, I had to hex Kingsley too, or it would have looked very suspicious. He was remarkably quick on the uptake, modifying Miss Edgecombe's memory like that while everyone was looking the other way - thank him for me, won't you, Minerva?

"Now, they will all awake very soon and it will be best if they do not know that we had time to communicate - you must act as though no time has passed, as though they were merely knocked to the ground, they will not remember -"

"Where will you go, Dumbledore? Grimmauld Place?" McGonagall whispered.

"Oh no, I am not leaving to go into hiding. Fudge will soon wish he'd never dislodged me from Hogwarts, I promise you..."

"I bet he's feeling it right now," Fred laughed quietly, keeping an eye on the unmoving people.

"Professor Dumbledore..." Harry started, but he didn't finish.

"Listen to me, Harry. You must study Occlumency as hard as you can, do you understand me? Do everything you are told and practice it particularly every night before sleeping so that you can close your mind to bad dreams - you will understand why soon enough, but you must promise me -"

Dawlish began to move and Dumbledore seized Harry's wrist.

"Remember - close your mind - don't believe what is shown you - you will understand."

When Fawkes drew close, Dumbledore released him and grabbed the phoenix's tail feathers. There was a flash of fire and the pair of them were gone.

"Where is he?" Fudge yelled. "Where is he?"

"I don't know!" Kingsley bellowed back as he jumped to his feet.

"Well, he can't have Disapparated! You can't inside this school -"

"The stairs!" Dawlish screamed, flinging himself to the door and wrenched it open. He disappeared with Kingsley and Umbridge right behind him, but Fudge hesitated.

"Well, Minerva, I'm afraid this is the end of your friend Dumbledore."

"You think so, do you?"

Fudge didn't hear her. He was looking at the office while a few of the portraits hissed at him. Pup was even surprised to see a few of them giving him rude hand gestures.

"You'd better get those three off to bed," Fudge muttered with a dismissive nod to the three students.

McGonagall didn't bother to reply. She just marched to the door with her students. As the door swung closed behind them, Pup could hear Phineas Nigellus' voice, "You know, Minister, I disagree with Dumbledore on many counts... but you cannot deny he's got style..."

Pup couldn't help but disagree. He did what he could to save Harry, and Harry was complaining he had no one to turn to except his two best friends. Dumbledore did what he did to have a bit of the spotlight on him and not on Harry, not for style.

No, style was more the Dark Lord than anyone. Pup found himself glaring at Harry, wishing again he had more of what the boy with the scar had. Even if the other boy thought he had nothing, he would always have more than Draco.

* * *

A/N And then, to hopefully clear everything up about what Draco and Fred did, was that Fred was disillusioned and made the quill move, making it seem as if it was Draco. The words that appeared on Fred was seen on top of Draco's because it wasn't already disillusioned. Like if someone was disillusioned and forgot to put their shoes on. The shoes wouldn't be disillusioned until they put a spell on them as well.

Also, the whole last bit, the only things I took word for word was basically what was being said in the office. I tweaked it a bit, of course, to fit, but there you go. :D Chapter 39. How was it? It's nearing the end of fifth year!

Also - because I'm terrible at replying to reviews although I try - thank you all sooooo much for reviewing. They all make me smile and giddy and they help the juices to flow for writing. :D so I just wanted to say: You guys are all awesome and I hope you're still enjoying the story!


	40. Thinking like a Gryffindor

"Dumbledore's gone," Harry whispered. He sat on one of the many couches, his head in his hands. He didn't look at anyone else in the room. He didn't want to. He just wanted to ignore everyone and pretend that what happened hadn't actually happened. That Dumbledore didn't have to leave because he took the blame for Harry.

"Boo hoo, Potter. Stop repeating the same thing over and over."

Malfoy's voice had Harry's head whipping up and his wand to appear in his hand. "You're a heartless bastard, Malfoy!"

"When did I ever say otherwise?" Malfoy shrugged his shoulders, that cocky smile in place. Harry wanted nothing other than to throw a hex towards the Slytherin, or - even better - a punch.

But that memory of that night had him freezing. Harry wouldn't do anything, not before he had answers. "What happened that night, Malfoy?"

Malfoy was sitting between Fred and George. He had one leg crossed over the other. Ron was on Harry's right and Hermione on his left.

The blonde prat cocked his head, his finger tapping his chin thoughtfully. "That night, that night. Well, you'll have to do better than that, Potter. There are many nights that have passed."

The arse wanted him to be _specific_? Why would he do that? Why would he want that? "The night with you and Snape."

"Him... and Snape?" Ron's eyes widened, and he pressed against the couch. "He's your _godfather_."

The smirk deepend, "You do have a memory."

"Eww, him and Snape? Really, Ron? That's where your mind went?" One of the twins asked, his laughter rolling towards the younger Gryffindors. The other twin had a small frown as he shook his head.

"That's what it sounded like!"

"If that is what Potter was asking, I'm afraid I'll have no answer for him."

Harry groaned and shook his head over and over again. That was _not_ an image he wanted in his mind. Snape with _anyone_ was disgusting. He brought up a hand and ran it through his hair.

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Mmm, I, as well as these two hellions, know what you are talking about. However, what I do not know is if the other two thirds of your group does." Malfoy's voice was quiet, but it had a hard quality about it.

"How could I have told them if I don't understand what the bloody hell happened?"

"I see," Malfoy uncrossed his legs and stood. "If you cannot even talk about what you saw, don't expect me to spell everything out for you, Potter."

"Blondie, you're going to have to tell him."

Malfoy waved a hand and was going to say something, but Ron's mouth fell open. "Pig?"

Upon hearing that word, Malfoy ducked and turned just as the small owl hurtled through the window glass as if it didn't exist. Pig shot towards the exact spot where Malfoy's head had been seconds before.

Then Pig got distracted and flew towards Ron, cooing and doing a flip - nearly falling to the ground because of the letter he held.

"Bloody blasted bird," Malfoy huffed as he straightened and smoothed his clothes. "That idiot has no sense of timing at all."

"What's Pig doing here?" Ron asked as he seemed to ignore Malfoy. "I wasn't expecting a letter. What about you two?"

The other two shook their heads, but when Ron went to take the letter away from his owl, the note was gone and zooming across the room. It landed in Malfoy's outstretched hand. "It's rude to read other's mail, Weaselbee."

"What? It's my owl!" Ron stood up and was going to march over to the smirking git, but Hermione grabbed his arm.

"What do you mean your mail? How do you know anyone that would know us?"

Malfoy just continued to look smug. "I know many people. However, that is neither here nor there. What we were talking about is what Potter cannot speak of."

Harry clenched his jaw and glared at the other boy as the Slytherin put the letter in his pocket. "I can speak of it, Malfoy! I just don't think you have the guts to talk about it."

"You'll have to ask specifically to find out."

Harry's mind went back to the night and he shuddered. "Why did you seem different?"

Malfoy looked at the twins. "Are you the only Gryffindors that can be specific?"

"Of course we are!"

Harry took a breath and just jumped in, "Why did it seem like you were a different person?"

"When?"

When? Malfoy wanted him to be _specific_ when he _knew_ what Harry was talking about? "I suppose you might not remember. It was right after I was in your head, and someone else came out."

"Mate, that sounds crazy," Ron muttered. "No one can have someone else in them."

"It's very possible," Malfoy sat back down, his smirk fell into a frown. One of the twins wrapped an arm around the smaller boy's shoulder, but he just shrugged it off. "What exactly do you want to know?"

"I just want to know what happened!" It was a simple question! All the git had to do was answer it, but he kept on asking stupid questions of his own.

"First things first: you need to calm down. Has he been working on his meditating?" His eyes flashed over to Hermione and she gave a very small nod. "For over ten minutes?" A shake of her head. Harry almost glared at the bushy-haired girl, but kept his mouth firmly shut. "You need to lengthen that by a large amount. Now, what happened is going to take a while to explain. However, for that to happen you will not interrupt me. The only ones who can will be the two hellions because they may remember something that I don't. Understood?"

Harry was going to argue, but he saw Hermione glaring at him so he wisely kept his thoughts to himself. So he gave a sharp nod. Ron and Hermione just stared at the Slytherin while Fred and George chorused, "We get special privileges. Sweet!"

Malfoy spared them only a glance before he started, "to understand what happened, or to even explain what transpired, I have to start from the beginning so you understand to some extent why things are happening the way they are. I was born in a time of hatred, like the three of you. However, different from you three, I was born in the midst of darkness. The medi-witch who helped my mother give birth to me was a Death Eater. My nanny was also a Death Eater. Everyone who lived in the manor was a Death Eater. However, one day that all changed. My life was altered because suddenly the Dark Lord wasn't there." He pursed his lips as his elbows came to rest on his knees. "The Dark Lord had been vanquished.

"My parents were then able to raise me as they should have. However, there were difference in my childhood than many children. I was born and raised to become a spy for Dumbledore. When I turned eleven, the first thing I was told was that I could not befriend the Boy-Who-Lived. I was told he was important, but to protect my family he had to be left alone.

"Some things changed and I started keeping the Boy-Who-Lived alive because if he dies," light, blue eyes narrowed on Harry's, "then the whole world will soon follow. Once the Dark Lord had came back, I was taken to him. Afterwards, I was to pass information onto him. Passing on useless information and making it seem vital is something that I was taught at a young age. Because of an incident at my first meeting with the Dark Lord, if I experience pain of any kind - mental or physical - the pain is intensified as a reminder of said encounter. This happens with each and every incident, even if the initial pain was not intended to be... permanent So, when Severus and Potter jumped into my mind and started to pick at my landscape, it caused me pain, thus activating the trigger for more pain to follow. Now, Potter, who you saw after you left my landscape was certainly me, but not in the way you imagine. That is a part of me who I have to be in order to survive the Dark Lord and his followers. Simple as that. He came out in order to protect me."

Harry stayed silent for a moment before he rushed to his feet. "I won't believe this bollocks!" He turned and stormed towards the door, but when he tried to pry it open, it refused to budge. He turned, seething, at the blonde in the room. "Let me out!"

"So that you can run around the school declaring I'm a spy for the Dark Lord? I'm not an idiot, Potter." He was leaning against the couch, his legs once again crossed and his wand spinning around in his fingers. "Sit back down. You won't be able to leave the room until I let you."

Ron wasn't moving, he was staring at the ground with his eyes narrowed in thought. When Harry stormed over and sat, the red-head finally spoke, "That's not enough for us to believe a word that comes out of your vile mouth, Malfoy! Nothing you've done in the past can prove what you say! And all that shite you're talking about with Harry, I have no bloody idea what you're on about!"

"I agree," Hermione shifted her head so her bangs moved out of her face. "If you can prove what you're saying is true, then we might think about it."

Malfoy seemed unaffected. He just waved a hand at one of the twins, who gave a nod. The twin stood, walked to the back wall where something stood, picked up a small bowl, and carried it to Malfoy. He held it out as Malfoy pressed his wand to his temple and slowly pulled it away, something silver and stringy attached to the wand tip. When it was finally pulled out completely, Malfoy gave a tiny flick and the whisp floated into the bowl.

A second later, the pedestal that had been in the back appeared in front Harry, Hermione, and Ron. It was made out deep, dark brown stone. It had carvings of runes that Harry didn't recognize at all and symbols that he couldn't place. The twin with the bowl walked forward and placed it on top of the pedestal and Harry could get a better look at it.

The stone bowl was shallow. It was huge - in length and in width - and it would allow seven or eight people to surround it with enough elbow room to be comfortable.

"I've seen one of these before," Harry murmured, not quite sure where, but he was positive he had seen one. He walked forward so he could walk around it over and over again.

"If you've been practicing with Severus you have. Any memory that Severus does not wish to share and is not vital that he keeps in his mind he'll put it in there. It helps relieve stress on certain events that happen."

"What is it?" Hermione stood up, staring critically at the thing.

"A Pensieve," Harry whispered, but not loud enough to be heard. It was different than the one in Professor Dumbledore's and Snape's offices, but it was close enough.

"A pensieve. I put a memory in there. The memory of what happened in Potter's last Occlumency lesson with Severus. You will not feel anything, but maybe you will be able to see the subtle differences in things that happen near the end." Malfoy was still sitting, but when Harry looked over, the other boy's attention was somewhere else as if lost in thought. "However, unlike most memories that will fade in and out, mine will stop abruptly as soon as I lose consciousness."

Ron snickered, "You fainted?"

Malfoy turned his attention to Harry's best mate, "I'm sure you will wish for it to end sooner than it does." He waved a hand to the two, "Go on then. Potter, are you going as well?"

Harry nodded. He had no wish to see it again, but he wanted to be there for his friends. He knew what would happen, maybe he would warn them before it happened and they wouldn't freak out as much as he had.

"What do we do?" Hermione asked, not bothering to look at the Slytherin.

"Lower your heads towards the memory. As soon as you touch it, you'll be transported to where the memory starts."

The three looked at each other, nodded, and slowly lowered their heads.

* * *

When the three had disappeared from sight and into the memory, Draco sighed and closed his eyes. "That was a bit easier than I envisioned. I imagined they would have argued more. I would have demanded more facts before I did anything."

"Yes, but you're a Slytherin, Blondie," Fred reminded him while wrapping an arm around the blonde. When Draco tried to shake him off again, Fred just tightened his hold. "It hasn't changed colors."

"That stupid, bloody gift of yours is going to kill me one of these days," Draco muttered and almost smacked George in the chest when he leaned against the armrest and placed his feet in Draco's and Fred's lap.

"Though now it changed colors," George laughed, pointing to the bracelet - which Draco couldn't see the difference in. How did he know if they were lying to him about it or not, then again...

"Ow!" George rubbed his chest as Draco relaxed against the couch again.

"There, did it return to normal?"

"It did," Fred chortled before falling serious. "Can we ask you something, Blondie?"

"I don't suppose if I refuse you'll leave it at that?" Draco did close his eyes, trying to stay awake long enough for the Golden Trio to return.

"Nope," George answered, his hand staying to rest on his stomach as if to help ease the pain there. "What was your childhood like? We doubt it's like what everyone said if what you said was true. You weren't spoiled rotten, were you?"

"Mmm," Draco hummed, trying to decide whether he wanted to answer or not, but then he thought to hell with it. "It's a little of both. When I was very young, I was. Until around the age of four I was spoiled rotten, never wanting for anything. I don't know what made my father snap. One day I could get away with anything, the next I was punished if I didn't do exactly as my father said the moment he said it.

"That's when my training began: martial arts - some kind of muggle thing - to help control my body and mind, legilimency, studying the Dark Arts and understanding them so I would know what to look out for, being taught what to say at the right times, how to act, and much more. I was trained from then on to be a spy and the perfect son.

"Mother was the buffer when Father got to be too much. I suppose when that happened, it was actually the mask Father has as well. However, he did it to protect my Mother and I. If he hadn't, I probably would have been on the Dark Lord's side because I wouldn't know what else I could do."

He finally opened his eyes, staring at the pensieve and ignoring the twins on either side of him. "When a child is young, they have an affinity. It could be either light or dark, however most are different shades of gray. What most fail to understand, though, is just how useful the Dark Arts can be. There are healing spells that are considered Dark Magic because it uses blood of the wizard or the saliva of a wizard who's about to change before the full moon. I was taught all of these potions. I learned how to make them. I learned how to perform spells as soon as my accidental magic appeared" Draco looked down at his hands that still held his wand. "It's probably why I struggle with certain charms such as the cheering charm or a warming charm."

The words were spilling out of his mouth, and he probably would have said more if the pensieve hadn't flashed brilliantly and the other three reappeared. Draco pushed George's feet off of him and stood up, disentangling himself from Fred. "Does that satisfy your curiosity of that night?"

Harry and Hermione looked shaken while Ron looked like he was about to be sick. However, it was Ron who spoke, "It shows what you meant about the pain thing. I don't think anyone could fake that. However... you could have faked the part before when you were... different."

"How could he act like someone else?! He had different posture, a different way of speaking, different everything! How could he do that?" George asked, standing up while Fred clenched his hands tightly against his legs.

"I don't know! Maybe because it's Malfoy!"

"Ron, you're the one who told me to come and listen to him!"

"Yes, but don't you hear the lying here?"

Fred looked about to pounce on his brother so Draco gave him a small strained, smile before he spoke aloud, "How about I just bring him out?"

Ron and Harry quit their bickering to stare wide-eyed at him, "Huh?"

"I think I had enough of him in that memory," Hermione muttered, backing away and towards the door.

_Oooh, did I hear correctly? You want me to come out and play._

Harry looked like he tensed, but Draco pretended to not notice.

_You do remember that I know how to put you away and that I remember what you do._

"Bring it on!" Ron said, his hands clenched at his sides.

_True, but I still get to play!_

"Blondie, won't that be putting yourself in a position of hurting yourself mentally?" George asked. Fred was too busy glaring daggers at Draco to say anything.

_No magic._

_Just a little._

"No, seeing as he is basically me, I am not putting myself into any dangerous situation."

_Very well._

Malfoy straightened his back and pushed his hair out of his eyes, a sneer crossing his face. "If it isn't my favorite Gryffindor trio: the scarhead, the weasel infant, and the mudblood." He looked over his shoulder and winked at the twins, "And the two just fuckable twins. I don't see how he can tell you two apart."

He gave a tiny flick of his fingers and the Weasley idiots were thrown off his couch and into the trio, the pensieve disappearing before they crashed into it. He could feel the boy's anger within him, but Malfoy just snickered.

Another flick of his fingers had the couch shrinking and it became a huge, plush armchair. "Ah, much better." He sat himself down and got comfortable. He threw his legs over the side of one of the armrests and leaned against the other. "Now, where were we? Oh, I remember. Proving that I'm different from that _boy_ I'm forced to be in." He tapped his wand against his chin and thought.

When he came up with an excellent idea, he placed his wand on his chest and concentrated. Five yelps told him it worked.

His smirk still firmly in place, he saw the five Gryffindors pinned to the wall. "Pity, it didn't work like it should have. Instead of being chained, you're just stuck. Oh well, I suppose Hogwarts couldn't be too evil to her students." He shrugged before laughing when Ron started yelling at him, but nothing came out.

"You can scream, you can shout, you can _beg_, but nothing... actually, I'll let you beg. Any sound that isn't you begging, I won't be able to hear. Shame, really, seeing as you Gryffindors don't beg. However, one can always hope and I'll explain in this blessed silence."

Standing, Malfoy sauntered over, his hands on his hips. "You all call this room many things. The boy calls it the Come and Go Room, his haven from everything out there. Here he doesn't have to worry about responsibilities. Oh, wait, not anymore." He gave a pointed look at Harry before moving closer so their chests almost brushed.

"You, Potter, are the reason for his -"

_That's enough!_

Malfoy staggered back a step, snarling when the five fell to a heap on the floor.

"His eyes! Look at his eyes!"

Malfoy glowered at them all, his eyes shining a bright silver. "Shut up! I'm not finished talking to you yet!" He ordered the room to put them up where they were before, but only the three younger Gryffindors were stuck. One of the twins was staring up at him with wide eyes while the other was glowering at him.

"Now, you call it the Room of Requirements. The boy is -"

_I said that's enough!_

Once again Malfoy stumbled and the three fell. Malfoy grabbed his head in his hands, snarling, "I'm not finished!"

But then Draco was standing there, swaying on his feet. "I hope that sated your confusion on who is who. I believe I have never called you three anything other than Potter, Weasel or Weaselbee, and Granger. I have certainly never called the twins," he cleared his throat and turned around so they couldn't see the light pink color going up his neck. He swished his wand and the armchair turned back into a couch.

Before he could sit, Fred was in front of him. He had Draco's head in his hands and staring into the light blue eyes. Seconds passed before he nodded and sat down first, George soon following him. When Draco just blinked in confusion, Fred and George sighed and pulled him down.

"Now are you guys happy?"

"No, not a bit," Ron snapped.

"I don't think even Malfoy is that good an actor," Hermione spoke as she gingerly sat down. "I don't think that's a topic we'll touch soon. However, what about the matter of you spying?"

Draco looked over at Harry who was still standing. He felt his eye twitch, but he said, "Talk to your godfather, if you have a way. I heard Mother saying that he used to have a two-way mirror that allowed him to talk to James when they were younger. She said it was something that he wanted to give to you as a gift when you were old enough. I don't suppose you received a gift from him lately?"

He saw Harry stiffen and his eyes grew impossibly wide.

"Now leave and talk to the mutt," Draco waved a dismissive hand. Harry didn't hesitate, he bolted to the door with Hermione and Ron hot on his tail, yelling at him to wait.

Draco sighed and closed his eyes, ready to sleep.

"Draco, we need to talk."

Bloody hell, he couldn't have five minutes? He opened his eyes and looked over to the side, but no one was there. He opened and closed his mouth before looking in front of him where Fred and George were standing in front of him, arms crossed.

"I don't suppose this is about your gift?"

"No. This is about the idiotic stunt you just pulled," Fred bit out with George nodding firmly beside him.

"Idiotic? Did you just say idiotic?" Draco stood, anger blazing through him. "It wasn't bloody idiotic! It was the only way to get through their thick skulls! If I hadn't, then we would have just argued. I wouldn't have been able to give them enough information to keep them silent, and where would I have been then?"

George shook his head, "That isn't what we mean."

Draco cocked his head to the side, "What?"

Fred sat where he was, a table appearing so he didn't fall to the ground. His head fell into his hands, his elbows propped up on his knees. "You really don't get it?"

"Get what?"

Draco didn't see it coming. One moment he was standing, the next he was in Fred's lap being crushed by a hug. After a few seconds, Fred loosened his arms, but refused to let go, his forehead resting on the blonde's shoulder.

Apparently the confusion Draco felt was etched on his face because George answered quietly, "We don't know what Snape meant by mental pain. It can be anything. It can be from fighting back Malfoy, it can be from entering your mind, it can be from mental exhaustion or anything else. We don't know what we're dealing with, and we don't think you do either."

Draco sighed, patting Fred on the back awkwardly, "Then I apologize. I didn't know for a fact nothing would happen, but it was a chance we had to take."

"If it happens again," Fred muttered, "Let us know beforehand so we can be prepared." He pulled back to stare at Draco, "Got it?"

"Well, I trust you guys enough to do what is needed if it happened again. That's basically the same thing."

"Merlin, a Slytherin thinking like a Gryffindor," George muttered, shaking his head.

Fred chuckled when Draco stiffened. "I was not!" The other two just ignored him and laughed.


	41. Mixed Feelings

Pup hopped over the missing stair and onto the ground floor. Behind him was Mrs. Norris, hissing at him. He looked over and started growling, but when he saw Filch catching up he gave a yelp and streaked down to the dungeons.

He didn't know why he ever agreed to do it. He didn't know why he gave it as one of their Christmas gifts. What he was doing wasn't what he had in mind. When he said that he would pull a prank with them for their last gift, he meant he would actually be part of it, not be a distraction for_ them_ to pull a prank.

However, Fred refused unless he was Pup and went nowhere near the toad. So there he was, distracting Filch and his stupid cat while the twins wreaked havoc in the old squib's office.

Pup hit a wet patch and went skidding across the floor, his paws scratching at the stone for purchase. However, it did move him forward at a faster pace and he was able to slip into an alcove and a secret passage before Filch or Mrs. Norris caught up to him.

He had given the hellions enough time.

He was about to head back towards the Come and Go Room when he heard an interesting sound. It was Sev's voice echoing down the corridor towards him. Though Pup was sure that the only reason he heard it was because he was currently in his animagus form.

He slinked forward, his small frame easily staying in the shadows. His large ears were standing upright, twitching sideways and forward so he could still hear the tone of Sev's voice. It didn't take him long until he was standing near Sev's classroom, his head cocked to the side.

The door banged open, causing Pup to jump a foot in the air. When he landed his tail was between his legs and his ears were down and his belly was flat on the floor. He slowly crawled forward to peek past the door that had barely missed him. Harry was running down the corridor and Sev was behind his desk with his head in his hands.

Pup took off after Harry, his tiny feet eating up the ground to catch up to the fleeing teen. As he bounded up the steps, Pup's breath was ragged, but he was easily catching up to Harry. He had never been able to run that fast while he was in human form. He was on the entrance level with Harry just starting up the steps and he was getting tired of the chase.

Giving off a loud enough bark for Harry to hear him, he watched in smirk satisfaction when Harry jumped and twirled around, freezing in place. Pup slowed to a trot and quickly caught up to him. When he was by the teen, Pup gave another bark and began up the stairs and went to wait by the door that lead to the spiraling staircases.

Harry just stood there, staring at the fox for a second. Pup let out a huff and another loud bark. Harry jumped again and hurried over to the fox who stared at him before looking at the door and then back to Harry.

"You're pushy even as a fox," Harry muttered as he pushed the door open.

Pup gave a yip and trotted through and up the stairs. He paused every few steps to make sure Harry was still there. He was. Everything was fine for the first two floors. It wasn't until they were starting up the third flight that Pup froze. The stairs had began to move, he could feel it even before he saw it.

Harry cursed as he had to hop over Pup. "What's the matter? We can't stay here."

The fox refused to budge. He just crouched down as the stairway shifted. It wasn't like they could go anywhere anyway. Pup gave a soft yowl when Harry scooped him up and hurried up the stairs.

However, Pup didn't bother jumping down until they were safely on the seventh floor. Once there - and having ignored the portraits whispering - he was once again safely on the ground and leading the way towards the Come and Go Room. He waited patiently as Harry paced and the door appeared.

As soon as it was shut, Pup changed so it was Draco who was standing there. "What did you do to Sev?"

"This is why I came here? Really? I did nothing to him."

"Let me rephrase the question so even you know what I'm asking, Potter. Why did my godfather kick you out of your Occlumency lesson? A lesson you should be focusing on." Draco was glaring down his nose at Harry, wondering what Potter did to have Sev in the state that he was in.

Harry crossed his arms, a look of stubbornness etching itself on his face.

"Oh for Merlin's sake, Potter. Tell me or I'll just jump into your mind and find out for myself!"

"You can't, you -"

"Wrong, Potter. I can very easily jump into your mind. It does no damage to me. That's what I have to worry about, but thank you for your concern. It's very touching." Draco reached out with his mind and tapped at Harry's own, but didn't actually dive in. He didn't want to, he just wanted to know what he did to Sev.

Harry's jaw twitched, but he ground out, " I found a memory of his. I accidentally entered it. He wasn't very pleased."

Draco closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping. His godfather was never that careless to leave a pensieve memory just sitting there to be looked at. If it was already in the pensieve, then it was just waiting there to be found. Harry was naturally curious, and he would have wanted to know what it was.

Severus had set it up so that Harry would find it and he could toss Harry out. Draco kept his eyes closed as he asked quietly, "What did he say?"

"That my lessons were over and that he didn't want to see me again."

Great. Draco recalled Sev telling him that he was going to push Harry on him.

He tried taking in deep breaths. He tried to count calmly. He tried to keep his temper reigned in. Yet when he opened his eyes, he saw that the room had changed. There were no couches and fire. There was only stone floors and walls with vases littering the floor. "Go get the hellions," Draco muttered. "You might as well bring your two counterparts."

He didn't wait for Harry's reply, he just reached down and grabbed a vase, hurling it at the wall across the room. The vase broke, shattering into millions of pieces. He reached down and grabbed and hurled another, then another and another and another.

Draco never heard Harry leaving over the ringing crashes.

* * *

"We weren't..."

"... finished with Filch..."

"... Harry. Why are you..."

"... taking us away from..."

"... our fun?"

Harry rubbed his head as he felt the headache coming on. "Malfoy said to grab you two," he finally admitted. They were in the Gryffindor Tower and he could see Hermione and Ron. After he waved them over, he turned back around to face the twins, but found that the one was gone.

"Where did... uh... he go?"

"George went after Blondie." The twin grinned, apparently at ease with his twin running around without him.

"Does he even know where Malfoy is?" Ron grunted as he moved over to stand beside Harry. "We're not going, are we?"

"Yeah, we're going. There's no way I'm facing an angry Malfoy without you two with me." Harry grinned at his best mates who smiled back.

"Well, lets get it over with," Hermione waved her hands towards the door. "Shall we?"

The others nodded and Fred took the lead. He looked around before exiting the portal and jogged down the corridor, not even bothering to put a disillusionment charm on. Harry and the other two put the charm on and hurried after Fred.

Soon they were in front of the crazy wizard and his dancing trolls in tutus. The door wasn't there, but after focusing really hard, Harry could see it. He opened it and the four entered.

Harry gave a sigh of relief when he saw that all the vases were gone and there were couches and a table in the middle of the room while the hammock was in the corner. Malfoy and George were at the table a note in between them.

"Hey George, what are you reading?" Harry asked, not knowing a better way to get their attention.

Malfoy turned and raised an eyebrow, his eyes flickering over to Fred for a moment before focusing on Harry again. "You do realize George is the one who came in with you?" He shrugged and grabbed the letter. "Though I'm not usually one to share my letters, there's a message for you at the end because apparently he was too lazy to send two separate letters. Though there's nothing of consequence in the letter, anyway." He held out the letter for Harry to grab.

Harry sent a shrug towards Ron and Hermione before reading.

_Brat,_

_It doesn't matter if I'm famous for recruiting death eaters. The only people that I care about know the truth. Plus it's not like the truth is going to stay in the dark forever. People will realize I wasn't the one to betray James and Lily and that I didn't kill all those people. I have plan for catching Pettigrew and clearing my name. I just need to finetune it, that's all._

_Right, Brat, you keep thinking that. Though I know that you deeply care for my well being._

_She's my cousin. I have a right to know what she meant in the letter!_

_Well, You-Know-Who's with them. That gives them a pretty good excuse, yeah? Stop worrying, she's always been able to get away._

_Not to worry, Brat, if anything, I'm sure she would send you something first. You are, after all, her son._

_S_

_P.S. (It was meant to be a P.S., so it needs to stay in the P.S. section!) You being my United States penpal is a grand excuse!_

_FOR HARRY! Stop reading, Brat!_

_Hey, so now that you've read this, you know now that he's my U.S. penpal. Yep, can't say his name, sorry kiddo. Though if you're reading this, then he's probably near you anyway. You'll have to tell me how that's working for you. Though I'm sure he's a brat (which is why I call him that), he really is what he says he is... when no one else is around. He does what he has to when he's in public. I know it's difficult, kiddo, but you got to have some faith in him._

_Snuffles_

Harry lowered the paper and stared at Malfoy.

When Harry couldn't come up with something to say, Ron snatched the letter away to read with Hermione. Malfoy simply raised his eyebrow and asked, "Snuffles? Cute name for a dog."

"I..." That was all he was able to get out when Ron began to start sputtering.

Malfoy flicked his wand and the letter floated back into his hands. "Go think, Potter. If you have that two-way mirror, go talk with the Mutt and get your thoughts in order. Granger, make sure he tries to empty his mind."

Once again Harry took the exit, his mind too much in a blur to think of anything he could say. He couldn't wait to grab the mirror again and talk to his godfather.

* * *

When the other three left, Fred sighed and draped an arm over Draco's chair. He leaned forward so his forehead rested on Draco's shoulder. Surprisingly, Draco didn't feel any pressing need to push him away, so he didn't.

"So why was there a little extra bit for Harry?" George asked, plopping down on the couch.

"I had sent another letter to the mutt. I suppose that he was too lazy to write two separate letters, or he was trying to force us together. Perhaps he wished for a confrontation?" Draco shrugged, leaning against Fred and closing his eyes.

When Fred had first entered the room, Draco's anger had doubled. Fred had stood there and just watched for a moment as Draco threw vase after vase, wishing it was hitting his godfather and not a wall.

Then Fred was standing in front of him and said that he wouldn't feel better unless he actually hit someone. So, without thinking, Draco had picked up a vase and hurled it, but even as it had left his fingertips he wanted to take it back.

All the anger he had felt just vanished and the couches and chairs were back with the table and hammock. The vase was gone before it hit Fred. The two had sat and neither spoke until the others entered.

"It's Sirius. He was probably just too lazy."

Fred nodded his agreement to his brother's statement.

Draco shook his head and blinked a couple of times when he realized the table was gone and he and Fred were sitting on a couch. "When did... never mind." Fred still had his arm around him and Draco was pressed against the auburn haired boy's side. Deciding it was a bit too close, Draco tried to scoot away, but Fred reached and pulled Draco into his lap.

"Stay put, Blondie."

"I'm not some pet to order around."

"No," George laughed, "but there is something that we should discuss."

"Actually, Georgie," Fred whispered, hiding his face in Draco's back. "We need to talk first."

"Freddie?"

Draco felt Fred shift for a moment before he felt the other's chin on his shoulder. There was a warm gust of wind against his cheek and then Fred was speaking again, "I can't go with you."

"But... you agreed to it! We've been planning for ages!"

"I know, bro. I'll help you leave, but I can't."

Draco stiffened and tried to pull away, but Fred held him firm. However, that didn't stop Draco from saying, "I see."

They had been making plans, for a long time according to George. They had planned on leaving the school, him, and hadn't bothered to warn him until weeks, perhaps days, before it happened. It shouldn't have hurt. He knew he was only a passing distraction to them.

What hurt most was that Fred was only staying because of his 'ailment'. He was sure of it.

"No you don't!" Fred let Draco move away and the blonde turned to face Fred, who was pulling at his hair. "I don't think you see what I mean!"

"I get it, Freddie," George cut in before Draco could snap at the other twin. "I do. I'll let you guys talk." Without another word, George was out of the room.

Draco waited until the door clicked audibly closed before he turned back to Fred. "I understand, Weasley. You don't have to explain your bleeding heart to me. I have no need for that."

"Blondie, let me -"

"Leave. I don't need you or your brother to live through anything. I don't need you staying out of pity. Go join your brother in whatever the hell you're leaving the school for."

"Draco, -"

"I have no desire to hear what you to say, Weasley."

"Damnit it, Draco!" Fred slammed his hands down on the table - which decided to reappear at that second. However, when Fred stood, the whole room changed. It changed into the cold room again - the bare walls except for the board and the lone candle that hung in the middle of the room. "Stop hiding and just listen!"

Draco stood stock still, his emotions carefully masked. He wouldn't let Fred see how much it was killing him to know that he and his brother wanted to leave. That they actually didn't want anything to do with him.

"George and I have been planning this since the end of our second year. We knew we didn't want to stay for N.E.W.T's. Who in their right mind would want to? So we decided that we would leave in some grand exit our final year."

"With Dumbledore leaving in the fashion that he did, you two might have some difficulties with that."

"Shut up, Malfoy."

Draco kept his flinch hidden from view. No matter what happened, or what was said, he wouldn't show emotion and he wouldn't show that he cared. He wouldn't. He couldn't.

He didn't know how he was going to survive once they left. Once Fred left.

"Except now I can't and won't go through with it. George can start the joke shop without me. I can send him ideas and messages through mail and such. I can stay while he goes."

"No," Draco snapped. "I don't want you here."

Fred looked like he had been slapped, but then he carefully schooled his features until only a grim expression was left. "Why don't you want me here?"

Draco sniffed, crossing his arms. "You only wish to stay because you would feel guilty if anything happened after you left."

There was silence before Fred raised an eyebrow. "Is that the only reason why I would stay?"

"You're a Gryffindor. What other reason would you need to stay for a Slytherin?"

Fred stepped closer, his movements slow. "You're more than just a Slytherin, Draco." He was getting way too close, so Draco took steps back to keep distance between them. "And, yes, part of the reason for staying is because of what you mentioned." Yet Fred wouldn't stop moving, he kept walking forward until Draco was pressed into a corner with no way out. "But I have more than just that one reason to want to stay."

Refusing to lower his head, Draco met Fred's eyes with his own. "Oh, are you going to share those reasons or are you going to stay quiet about them all?"

"I won't tell you them," Fred barged on when Draco opened his mouth to interrupt, "but I can show you."

Before Draco had a chance to think about anything, Fred was leaning closer. Then lips were pressing against his own and Draco forgot to breathe. It was only a slight brushing of lips, a barely there whisper of what could be.

Fred pulled back a hair, his deep brown eyes locked on Draco's. Then a smirk covered his face.

Draco's mouth fell open in shock when Fred's hands tangled in his hair and yanked his head back to tilt it upwards. "Wha-", but his words were cut off by Fred's lips and tongue.

For a moment Draco just stood there, but - right before he reacted - Fred released him and took a few steps back. "Think about that, Draco." Then he turned on his heel and marched out of the room.

* * *

As soon as he was in the common room, Fred hurried up the stairs to get to his bed. George's curtains were already closed and Fred quickly hid behind his own. Once on his bed, Fred gripped his head and stared at the curtains.

He had kissed Draco. He hadn't meant to, but Draco had asked for it. He had kissed Draco and he hadn't been cursed. Perhaps he should get a medal for that.

But what if that just pushed the blonde away? What if it made him angrier? What if - his curtains were pushed to his side and he was faced with his smirking brother. "What, Georgie?"

"I was wondering when you were going to tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"That you weren't going with me."

Fred flopped onto his bed, letting an arm cover his face. "I've been trying to tell you for a few weeks, but I couldn't ever find a good time."

"There is rarely a good time to spill bad news, Freddie. But in this case, I knew it was happening, so it technically isn't bad news."

"Yeah yeah yeah. Besides, I'm the one that's worried. Are you going to be able to manage setting up the shop all by yourself?" Fred peeked out from behind his arm to smirk at his brother.

"Of course I can, you know that!" George laughed and smacked his brother. "In all honesty, what's got you all tied in knots? You never go to bed before me. Did Blondie not take it well?"

"I'm not sure..."

"Is it difficult to know if he's angry or not?"

"Well... he was saying the only reason that I'm staying is because of the whole pain thing."

"Freddie, please tell me you didn't do anything stupid," George groaned, falling half on top of Fred and half on the bed.

With a grunt, Fred adjusted George so he could breath again. "Well, he was pissing me off. He accused me without knowing all the facts."

"What did you do this time, Fred?"

"What? At least I didn't accio him to me."

"Ah yes, your wonderful night time story. Waking up and saying, "_Accio Blondie_" worked so well last time."

"How was I supposed to know it would summon any blonde to me?"

"I'm sure Creepy was just as scared as you were."

Fred shuddered as he thought of the boy - who thankfully didn't sleep with his camera - zooming into his bed. That was not something he wanted to remember. ***

"Well... I might have kissed Draco and left before he could say or do anything."

There was a long stretch of silence before George was laughing, holding his stomach as he rolled from side to side. "Good going, bro!"

"I didn't want to be hexed!"

George nodded, but continued to chuckle. When he was able to contain himself he added, "Plus it gives him time to stew. Less likely to hex your jewels off. Anyway, the next couple of days are going to be big. I need to be rested for all our plans to work."

"It'll be weird without you here, Georgie."

"It'll be weird without you, Freddie." George crawled out of Fred's bed and went to his own. Once Fred was alone, he cast a silencing charm, set an alarm for two hours later, and began to meditate like he did every night and morning.

* * *

*** = this is first mentioned in ch. 19. Wow... almost 30 chapters ago and Fred is still not happy that Collin ended up in his bed and not Draco. LOL, silly Fred.

A/N Ok, so the whole thing about Fred kissing Draco? Yeah... that wasn't supposed to happen... Silly characters doing what they want and ignoring me. Blarg. Lol. Hope you guys liked it!


	42. Fleeing

Draco was sitting at the breakfast table, slowly eating some scrambled eggs. There weren't many people there as he had gotten into the habit of waking early. When he brought another forkful to his mouth, he saw Blaise enter the Great Hall without anyone behind him.

Blaise had his chin up and his eyes flicking everywhere. His steps were assured and he was just about to pass Draco when Draco decided he had enough of the silent treatment to last him a lifetime. "Zabini."

The Italian boy paused, raising an eyebrow. Draco tilted his head just a little bit to give the appearance of acknowledging him and - to whoever was watching - apologizing. Blaise returned the gesture and moved to sit in front of the blonde.

"I suppose this means we're on talking terms again?"

Giving a nod, Draco took another small bite of eggs. "I suppose," he returned. There was no one else at the Slytherin table, giving Draco the chance to cast a muffliato on the surrounding areas so they could talk safely. Instead of talking first, Draco took a sip of his pumpkin juice and made a motion towards Blaise.

"How did your plans work out?"

Draco tilted his head, "Most of them backfired."

"I'll assume that one of them was Umbridge?" Blaise asked, placing some food on his plate. "What you did in full view of everyone was brilliant, by the way."

"I'm sure. The one thing that seemed to go well was the house unity. I see you stopping and talking to other houses, even Gryffindors. Some of the Slytherin's are doing the same and I haven't heard any rumors about evil Slytherin's eating children lately."

Chuckling, Blaise nodded as he took a small bite of toast. He carefully chewed his mouthful before saying, "Having you out of the picture helped a lot. Nott doesn't play a dominant role in what happens in Slytherin. He wants to believe he's a powerhouse, but it was between you and I. It was easier than I imagined to steer them in the right direction."

"What of Parkinson?"

"Her eyes have been clear for the past month." Blaise finished his toast and took a drink from his orange juice. "She used to only talk of you non stop, but now it seems her attention is on me."

Draco chuckled, "I'm sure that's going well."

The Italian smirked, "Perhaps. Just so we're clear, Malfoy, I won't be doing anything else for you."

"Naturally." Draco gave his hand a lazy flick and the spell came down. "What have I missed in Slytherin?"

"The usual. The groups are still the same, except Nott, Crabbe and Goyle are now officially their own group. They will have nothing to do anyone else."

The two continued to have idle chatter as more and more people wandered into the Great Hall. The Slytherin's, seeing Blaise and Draco talking, joined in on the conversation. Even though he knew that they were likely to backstab him the moment a chance was made available, Draco enjoyed the chatter.

He didn't say much, he was too used to keeping silent. However, he threw in his two knuts when he deemed it necessary. Breakfast continued on in this fashion until Draco caught sight of two auburn haired boys entering and had to fight the grin that was threatening to overcome him.

Draco tried to catch Fred's eye, but the twin was determined not to look his way. That act alone only proved to Draco that his theory for the past four nights was right. It wasn't that Fred left in order to allow him to think about what had transpired between the two teens. Fred ran because he had been scared of how Draco would react. In all honesty, after the initial shock, he hadn't been disgusted or angry.

If he was honest with himself, Draco would have to say he had enjoyed it. Fred had made his point, but Draco didn't know if he would ever be able to reciprocate that feeling. Though Draco didn't know to what extent Fred's feelings went. He wasn't sure he wanted to.

Ever since Draco had first since the twins in the library with Lee, he had time to digest what they were doing together. However, after that incident he hadn't seen either boys messing around with the boy in dreadlocks again. George was with that Angelina chit and Fred didn't seem to be with anyone. Though Fred could have been with Lee and Draco not know.

For some unknown reason, Draco could feel something knot in his stomach and he could feel his anger rising up. He didn't understand why he was feeling those oddities and refused to look closer at their meaning.

Draco stood and nodded cordially to those at the table. He watched in amusement as George nudged his brother and Draco almost started laughing when Fred shook his head harshly. Not seeing a reason not to, Draco gave a subtle wave of his hand towards Fred and shot out a compulsory charm at the twin.

As Draco walked out of the Great Hall, he feared that it hadn't worked, but he waited for another minute in an alcove, hidden from view. Right as he was about to leave, Fred came walking out with his hands dug deeply into his pockets with a frown marring his face. Before he could walk past Draco, the blonde reached out and dragged the Weasley into the alcove next to him.

He cast a few silencing charms around them and rounded on the older teen, "It isn't like you to avoid me, Fred. It's been four days."

"Uh... yeah... about that, I won't apologize."

Still Fred wouldn't look at Draco, and the younger wizard could almost swear he saw a blush crawling up Fred's neck. "I didn't expect you to." Draco leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he smirked. They had thirty minutes before everyone else would leave the Great Hall to head to class. He had the time to relax and enjoy taunting the Weasley. "Like I said, it's not like you to avoid anyone."

"Well..." Fred didn't seem as if he could come up with any excuse.

"If I wanted to hex you, I would have done so before you were able to escape." Fred's head came whipping up at Draco's words, who chuckled. "You didn't fool me. You were afraid of my wrath. It was interesting to watch a Weasley twin run away."

Fred frowned, "I wasn't running!"

"You didn't want to get cursed."

"Those are two different things!"

Draco raised an eyebrow, but didn't argue his point. He was right, Fred knew - and the twin knew that Draco knew that he knew.

"Well, if you don't want to curse me, and you didn't want to curse me then, what does that mean?"

"And here I thought you were the smarter twin. Don't make me start doubting you."

"Does that mean I get to do it again?"

Draco blinked. He hadn't really thought that far in advance. When Fred had kissed him the first time, he thought he was just proving a point and leave it at that. "Why would you want to do that?"

For a moment there was only silence before Fred took a step forward, "Would you let me?"

Draco couldn't look away and he couldn't stop the words from spilling out of his mouth, "I don't think I'm capable of giving you what you want."

A small, empty smile appeared on Fred's face, but his eyes were all warmth when he said, "Whatever you give me will be enough."

"I'm probably using you," Draco's eyes lowered to Fred's lips for a moment before going back up.

"I don't care. Will you let me?"

Draco couldn't help himself, he gave a nod. He watched as the tension seemed to leave Fred as the boy took the last few steps forward. Draco was still pressed against the wall, his head tilted back.

He could feel his heart pounding. His pulse was beating in his neck as Fred's fingers laced through Draco's hair.

Fred moved slowly, giving Draco time to stop him if he wanted to. Instead, Draco grabbed a fistfull of Fred's robes, neither pushing nor pulling, just anchoring himself.

A sigh left Draco as Fred gently pressed his mouth against Draco's. It was soft and feather light. Their lips slowly moved against each other's before Draco tensed when he felt Fred's tongue tracing his bottom lip.

As if he understood, Fred pulled back just a little bit to break the connection, his eyes still on Draco. "I'm not forcing you into anything."

"I can handle myself."

There was another tiny smile on Fred's face as he said, "I'll be here, though."

Before Draco could say anything else, people poured out of the Great Hall and into the corridors, heading to class. He turned back to Fred, but the twin was already gone and Draco's hand was grasping empty air.

* * *

_Mutt,_

_What you just said was contradictory. You say it doesn't matter, yet you say you're going to be cleared. If it didn't matter, you wouldn't be concerned about clearing your name. Though I assure you I have no desire to know, what's your plan for Pettigrew? And what does he have to do with anything?_

_Keep deluding yourself, it has no affect on me._

_I fail to see how my mother being your cousin gives you any right to know what she meant when the note was clearly to me._

_There is no use in having a 'P.S.' Everything you have to say should be stated before you close a letter. I am going to ignore whatever you write if it's after you sign._

_Also, I read what you wrote for Potter. I fail to see how Snuffles fits you._

_D_

* * *

Draco hadn't been there when George left. All he knew was that there was a swamp in one of the upstairs corridors and that George had left on his broom. The rumor that was spreading around was that Fred stayed because he was going to use more of their products on _her_.

"You are an imbecile," Draco was waving his wand over Fred's back in the Come and Go Room. There were already welts appearing from the whip marks, but because of the dittany that the room had given him, there would be no scars.

Once the wounds were cleaned, Draco gave his wand a final flick and had Fred's back wrapped. However, it wasn't very likely that Fred was going anywhere until the next day. The older boy was already passed out on the couch.

After a moment of thought, the couch changed into a comfortable bed. Draco shook his head when Fred buried his nose into a pillow and sighed. For his part, Draco went over to his hammock and spent the night keeping a watchful eye on the foolish Gryffindor.

* * *

"There's a _what_ in the forest?" Draco asked, looking from one golden trio member to another. "And he _introduced_ you?"

"Malfoy, will you stop repeating everything I say?" Hermione huffed, crossing her arms. "Yes, there's a giant in the forest and yes Hagrid introduced us to his half-brother! They're one and the same."

"The only reason we're telling you this is because you helped Fred," Ron muttered, scuffing his feet.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Look, Malfoy, Sirius says I can trust you so I will." Draco raised his eyebrow at that, but let Harry continue. "He also wants to talk to you, face to face."

That wasn't something that the blonde was expecting. "How will that be done?"

Harry carefully pulled something out of his robes, cradling it to his chest. "You have to be careful with it."

"I'm not an infant, Potter. I can manage to hold a mirror." Draco held out his hand, waiting impatiently for the two-way mirror to be handed over. After a few seconds, the mirror was in his hand and Draco said clearly, "Sirius Black."

The mirror shimmered for a moment before a shaggy haired man was grinning at the mirror, "Brat! What a pleasant surprise."

Rolling his eyes, Draco sat down in the plush armchair. "I was told you wanted to speak to me."

"Don't even have a greeting for your cousin?"

"You mean cousin once removed? We've been sending owls, I see no reason for pleasantries."

Sirius barked out a laugh, "You sound just like Cissa when she was your age."

Draco's heart seemed to drop into his chest, but he gripped the arm of the chair to keep it from showing. "I'm sure. The reason?"

"Harry told me you mentioned finding and destroying horcruxes."

Draco looked over at Harry and smirked, "I told him nothing about horcruxes. Little Weasley overheard me mention them. However, it is something that is worth discussing. I have evidence that they are in existence. More than one, I believe. This is the Dark Lord we're talking about." Draco ignored everyone else in the room. Fred - who had been sitting quietly and listening - walked over and sat, the armchair turning into a couch.

Sirius nodded, "What do you know of them?"

"Just their purpose and how to make them." Draco didn't bother hiding his shiver, "The procedure is truly disgusting."

"So you don't know what a horcrux will do to someone who's in contact with one?"

"No. Do you?"

"I'm a Black. I was raised to know anything dark. Can the others hear?"

"Yeah, Sirius, we can all hear." Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing behind the couch so they could see Sirius as well.

"Good because you all need to hear this. The effects may differ with each horcrux. One of the effects is that it takes power from those who have it in their possession. Another is that it will become sentient. And the third is that it can have some effect over people's actions, and perhaps even total control over someone who is emotionally weak."

Hermione leaned forward, her hair brushing against Draco's shoulder. Trying not to be too obvious, Draco leaned closer to Fred so that the bushy haired girl could see better. "That reminds me of Ginny!"

"How does that remind you of Ginny? I've never seen her acting strangely," Sirius' voice was confused - as Draco could no longer see the man.

"No, you wouldn't have. This was our second year, her first. There was a diary and -"

"Riddle's diary!"

"Yes, Harry. The diary."

Draco looked at Fred, who shrugged, before turning his attention to the trio. "The diary?"

"Yeah. Second year, Gin had a diary and it turns out it belonged to Tom Riddle - whose Voldemort - and he ended up coming out of the diary," Ron answered, not bothering to look at Draco. "You think it's a horcrux, Sirius?"

"By the sounds of it, that would be a safe bet. Brat, you mentioned you had evidence that there were horcruxes."

"I have one in my possession."

"You have a horcrux?" Ron asked.

"Ronald, he didn't make one," Hermione huffed, "honestly. But how do you have one, Malfoy?"

"My mother sent it to me. Regulus Black sent it to her via Kreacher. When the Dark Lord moved into the manor, she sent it to me so it would be away from him."

"Regulus stole a horcrux?" Sirius' voice was quiet.

Draco turned the mirror so he was looking at his cousin. "Sirius, that's why he died. He found out about the horcruxes and he did what he could to get it away from the Dark Lord."

There was a pregnant pause before Sirius muttered, "I have to go... Buckbeak needs to be fed." Before anyone else could say anything, the mirror shimmered and Sirius was gone.

"What'd you do?" Harry asked, snatching the mirror out of Draco's hands. "Sirius Black!" The mirror didn't do anything and Harry huffed.

"I did nothing. I'm sure you understood what he said. He had to go feed Buckbeak."

"Do you even know who Buckbeak is?" Ron asked snidely as the three Gryffindors walked around the couch to sit on the other one facing Draco and Fred.

"Of course I know what Buckbeak is. He's the Hippogriff that managed to get away from the minister. It was quite hilarious to see Fudge apologizing to my father."

"Wait... you aren't upset that he didn't die?"

"Why would I be?" Draco sighed, "That isn't the problem at hand. How is it that I know more about your godfather than you do, and I only started sending him letters after he managed to escape from the school?"

"I didn't know he existed before then, Malfoy," Harry spat out.

"Ah." Perhaps he could teach Harry more about the wizarding world so that the other boy wouldn't be so blind about customs. When Draco cast a glance at the raven haired boy, he decided against it. Even though Harry claimed to trust him, he wouldn't have been surprised if Harry had been lying through his teeth. "Regulus Black was Sirius' brother. For all the mutt knew, Regulus was a full out Death Eater. To find out that his younger brother was against the Dark Lord - at least in the end - must be a shock. To find out that his younger brother died to help the Order's cause would also be shocking."

Harry took a deep breath, "Look, Malfoy. There a few things we want to talk to you about."

"I figured. I didn't believe that you just wanted to tell me about... Grawp and have the Mutt speak to me."

"Alright, Malfoy, we have some stipulations for you if you want to work with us."

Draco stood, eyes flashing. "I don't want to work with anyone, Granger. You best understand that now."

"Then why would you -"

"What I have to do is none of your business. The only thing you need to know is that the only reason I'm here is because of my family and that I want this bloody war to end. For that to happen, the horcruxes need to be destroyed and Voldemort killed. To ensure that happens, I have to make sure that _he_," Draco pointed at Harry in a quick jab, "lives until that day and help as much as I can to make sure the outcome is the one that is desired."

"And for that to happen," Hermione ground out, standing up so that she could make eye contact easier, "you have to work with us. We have two conditions. You have to help us get rid of Umbridge and you have to stay away from Voldemort."

Harry and Ron nodded with her words, but Draco just blinked before looking over his shoulder at Fred, "They aren't serious, are they?"

"Seeing as Sirius was -" at Draco's glare Fred quickly changed his sentence, "It looks like they are, Blondie."

Draco pressed his fingers to his forehead, taking in a calming breath. "You are supposed to be the smart one in your little group, Granger. I can help you get rid of Umbridge. However, asking me to stop spying is completely and utterly idiotic. How else are you supposed to know what the Dark Lord has planned? Obviously not Sev as he can't stand to be in your presence. The Order and Dumbledore have omitted telling you things, seeing as you didn't know what horcruxes were before tonight."

"But that doesn't mean that what you tell us will be true!" Ron growled.

"Sirius told you to trust me. You trust the mutt and he trusts me. Is it so difficult for you three to follow directions? You put more lives at stake because you have a problem with authority."

The three were quiet, so Draco continued. "I will continue to spy and I will continue to pass on information, but from now on I will also tell you all the information as well."

"Even though Sirius told us to trust you, how do we know you won't betray us in the end?" Hermione finally asked.

"Ah, finally. An adequate question." Draco whirled his wand between his fingers. "If I wanted to, I could easily take you to the Dark Lord now."

"There's no way that -"

"Weaslebee, I've been trained to fight Death Eaters since I was nine. You three are like child's play. I can have you three bound, invisible and off the grounds in fifteen minutes. From there, all I would have to do is call one of my house-elves to me and have you taken to my manor where the Dark Lord is currently residing.

"By the time anyone noticed you were missing, the Dark Lord would have killed you and there would be nothing to stop him."

Harry pondered a moment before nodding, "Prove it."

A smirk grew on Draco's face, "You doubt my abilities. All those times I've walked away and left you standing has made you believe you could take me."

"I want you to prove it," Harry pulled out his wand, "but I want the other you to do it."

_Oh? That would be fun._

"He wouldn't hesitate to actually send you to the Dark Lord, Potter. That probably isn't the best idea you've had."

_I wouldn't send him to the Dark Lord._

_Why?_

"If he's a part of you, shouldnt he also have some of your beliefs? If you created him to survive, wouldn't he know that the best way to survive is by helping me?"

_He's wrong on that account. However, I dislike the idea of bowing to someone. For now I have no need for him to die. If he can be trained and change that fate of bowing to that creature, then I'll let him stay. If he can't be, then I'll take him to the Dark Lord and have high standing there._

Draco wasn't sure if he believed Malfoy, but he said, "Very well." He could take control if Malfoy went to far anyway.

"Why Potter, you asked for me. That makes me feel all gooey inside." Malfoy purred, pressing a hand to his heart, a grin morphing his features. "Though you won't last that long." His wand flashed out, pointing at Hermione and she went crashing into the wall, knocked out. "That was disappointingly easy."

Ron gave a bellow and charged at Malfoy, but the blonde spun to the side and Ron ran head first into the couch. A flash of yellow flew past Malfoy's head, who turned his attention to Harry.

Ducking past another curse, Malfoy flicked his wand at Hermione and had her bound and gagged so if she did return to consciousness, she wouldn't have been able to do anything. He gave a tsk as he merely shifted his weight to dodge another flashing spell. "You need to aim, Potter."

Malfoy heard the pounding feet and twisted, Ron rushing past him again. "I thought you were a wizard, Baby Weasley." Ron went flying towards Hermione, his head hitting the wall.

"Not even two minutes and both of them are out." Malfoy bound and gagged Ron, casting a sticking charm on both of them so Harry couldn't release them. "Perhaps the boy should have said ten minutes."

His grin changed into a malicious smirk as he faced Harry. "You're a disappointment." Malfoy crossed his arms, at ease. He'd won and Harry didn't even know it. Harry sent a spell flying, but it bounced off the shield around Malfoy. "You have many things the boy wants, and yet you squander it." He took a step forward, licking his lips.

Harry sent spell after spell, but the shield never wavered. He took too many steps back and he hit the wall behind him.

"You have such power in you, yet it's wasted. I want it. I could take it from you in an instant. How are you supposed to defeat the Dark Lord when you can't beat me? This is what the boy was talking about." Malfoy reached out and pointed his wand at Harry's chest. His eyes flashed a bright silver as he drank in the sight of the boy-who-lived trembling. "When I'm done with you, you will not tremble in fear."

Malfoy tilted his head to the side as he watched Harry trying to edge away. "Perhaps the boy was right. You have the ability to be more." He dropped his wand, but his other hand came up and he gave a flick of his wrist to send Harry over to join the other two, being bound and gagged before he even hit the ground. However, Malfoy didn't let him black out. He would let the other boy suffer for a little bit.

Turning, he saw Fred was still sitting on the couch, scowling at him. "You look so angry. Why's that? Can't stand having the boy pushed aside?"

He quickly strode over to Fred, pressing his palms against the couch on either side of the Weasley. "You do realize we are the same, don't you?"

"You aren't Draco," Fred answered, his eyes hard and his mouth set.

"Ah, there you're wrong." Malfoy flicked his wand and made sure that Fred was immobilized. "There, that's better, isn't it?" Tucking his wand into his sleeve, Malfoy straddled Fred, his knees on either side of Fred's legs. He didn't let anything touch, just barely holding himself over Fred.

"We are very much the same person. I know he told you about children and affiliations." Malfoy's eyes flicked over to Harry, who's eyes were wide open. The blonde's smirk morphed into a sick grin when he saw the other two were also watching, helpless to everything that transpired.

Finally he lowered himself so he could carefully adjust himself over Fred. What amused Malfoy the most was that Draco was in shock and couldn't seem to come out. He had a few minutes before Draco would come to his senses and suppress Malfoy, taking back control. "What you fail to realize is that Draco's affiliation was dark - not completely black, but there was only a hint of light. However, there was enough light for his parents to push the dark thoughts away - not completely, mind you."

He leaned forward. Slowly, he lowered his lips and kissed Fred's neck. He could feel the rage flowing off the Weasley. "I'm the part of him that wasn't needed until they knew that Voldemort was still alive. I'm the part of him that had no need to be awakened until he had to be who he wasn't raised to be. Oh, if Aunty Bella had been our mother, there would only be me."

Malfoy trailed his tongue over to the juncture where Fred's neck met his shoulder. "When he says I'm only his mask, it's partly a lie. He was never told that he wouldn't have been able to create me if he didn't have the same feelings deep down. He enjoys other's pain and sorrow to some extent."

"He can still feel other things, too," Fred spoke, though he still couldn't moved.

Humming, Malfoy sucked hard on the skin, chuckling when Fred hissed. "That's true." He raised his head after leaving a final kiss on the bruise and said, "That is very true, but we are one in the same."

"No, you're what he would be if he didn't have anyone. You're who he would have been if he hadn't been raised the way he was."

Malfoy smirked, bringing his face inches from Fred's. "I'm what he could be if you fail." He slammed his mouth against Fred's, biting at the other's lip until he forced them apart and plundered. Even as he ravaged Fred's mouth, he let Draco have control once again.

Draco jumped away, staring wide eyed at Fred. He didn't mean to, but all the spells that kept the golden trio tied and Fred still all fell.

Fred stood up and was about to say something when Draco shook his head and fled out of the room without saying anything.

* * *

A/N You know, I absolutely loathe and love Malfoy. He's just awesome and malicious. Weird. Anyway, hope you guys liked the chapter :)


	43. Refusal

Draco paced back and forth in his room in the Slytherin dorms. Potions class was coming up, and he was trying to figure out a way to get out of attending. However, he had already agreed with Blaise that he would go down with him and Pansy.

He gripped his hair in one hand and glared at the door. He had another five minutes until he had to head into the common room.

He knew that once he entered the classroom he had to ignore the golden trio. He could feel himself beginning to blush at what had happened the night before. He still couldn't believe Malfoy's actions.

Furious, he grabbed his bag, stormed out of his room and into the common room. "Draco!" Pansy grinned and waved him over; the blonde Slytherin's looked at her oddly. "It's good to have you back."

She hooked her arm through the blonde's and all Draco could do was stare at her. She had never been that expressive before. Sure she had been loud, but she never grinned or smiled that brightly. It was more disconcerting than not. "Hello, Parkinson."

"What's up with you boys and calling a girl by her last name?" Pansy hooked her other arm through Blaise's. Draco allowed it for another few seconds before pulling away so it was only Blaise and Pansy connected. "Well, Potions here we come!"

Draco walked beside Pansy, his hands in his pockets. They made it into the classroom and there was Potter, already sitting at their table. He gave the other two Slytherins a nod and sat down, quickly muttering under his breath so that no one but Harry could hear him, "Do not mention last night. The only talking that will be done today will be of the potion and nothing more."

Harry jumped and stared at Draco before nodding. Draco then went on to ignore Harry, never looking at him unless it was necessary.

After Severus gave them their task for the day - the Strengthening Solution - and went to sit behind his desk, Draco could feel something nudging his hand. He shot a glance down and saw a piece of paper. Although something told him not to open it, he did and quickly read it.

_This technically isn't talking. What the hell happened yesterday?_

Deciding he didn't have to answer, Draco set the paper on fire and flicked the ashes off his desk and onto the floor. As he was mashing the griffin claw, another note pressed against his hand. With a silent snarl, he opened it and read it.

_You need to talk to Fred. He_

Draco didn't even bother to finish reading the paper. Instead, he gave it the same end as the other note. "Send me another note, Potter," he hissed under his breath, "I'll cut off your pinky and add it to the potion and see how that would pan out."

Needless to say, he wasn't bombarded with anymore notes. The rest of class passed swiftly. Harry kept on sending him glances and Draco had to stop him from adding the wrong ingredients at the wrong time. However, as the bell rang they had a suitable start to the potion.

Harry walked over to Severus to turn their potion in as Draco hastily put his belongings into his bag and hurried out of the classroom. Pansy and Blaise were already waiting for him outside, and Draco said, "I'm going to head to the library. Are you coming?"

Pansy shook her head, "No, we're going out by the lake until our next class. I'll see you in Transfiguration with the Puffs."

"Arithmancy in an hour, Malfoy. It'll be good to have an adequate partner again." Blaise gave a brisk nod of his head and he and Pansy left to head to the Black Lake. Draco turned on his heel and headed up the hallway that would take him to a passageway that would lead to the outside of the library.

Before he could step into the passageway, he was yanked into another one. It was one he was familiar with. He was dragged further into the passage until he was in the room that had the couches and the fire.

Whoever grabbed him pushed him onto the couch.

Fred's face was inches from his own, a scowl in place. "I will not let you run away, Blondie. I would rather not have to chase you until you came to your senses."

"Came to my senses?" Draco crossed his arms and turned his head to the side, glaring at nothing in particular. As long as he wasn't looking at Fred, he would be ok. If he didn't look at Fred, Draco would be able to pretend that Malfoy hadn't done what he did.

"Yeah, if I waited for you to find me, I doubt you would have come any time soon."

"Nothing happened," Draco snapped, still keeping his head turned. "I have to get ready for class. If -"

"You don't have class for another hour, Draco. Will you do me a favor and stop running away? _Again_." Fred grabbed Draco's chin and forced the younger boy to look at him. "What happened wasn't your fault."

So Fred wouldn't allow him to pretend that it hadn't happened.

_Well, what did you expect?_

"I let him out in the first place. If I hadn't, it wouldn't have happened. Plus all that was spoken, I'm actually starting to believe half of it."

"Draco,"

"It explains everything really," Draco yanked away from Fred and stood, pacing across the floor. "My affiliation, why he manifested the way he has, the way that -"

"Stop it!" Fred's shout had Draco freezing mid pace. The blonde turned to the Weasley slowly. When he finally faced Fred, the twin said, "Look, it doesn't matter if he is you or if what he said was true."

"Why?"

"Everyone has something dark they're holding at bay. It's even the same for those who have an affiliation for light. I knew about affiliations when you started talking about them. George's and mine aren't white, it's more of a really dark gray. Mine more so than George's."

"What?"

"I'm the one who's more methodical out of the two of us, I'm the one who came up with the idea of using our products and such on other students instead of ourselves. It took me _months_ to convince George it would be ok. It's more satisfying to see how they work on others."

"Yes, but that could be just taking into account that you want to see your products work."

Fred shook his head as he stuffed his hands in his pockets. "No. I enjoy watching others feel ill or being harmed in some way. Maybe not to the extent the other you does, but it's still there. I'm sure most of us have some sick fascination of seeing others writhe in pain. The only good thing about it is that we have the ability to keep it at bay and be who we want."

"You're making too much sense. What happened?" Draco composed himself and walked back to the couch to sit.

Fred grinned and flopped down next to him. "I'm known to be serious from time to time. Not very often, mind you, but sometimes."

"Wouldn't want to ruin your image."

"Exactly!" Fred threw an arm around Draco. Without really meaning to Draco tensed. "Blondie, relax. You can't help who or what you like or dislike. It's like when you eat something: you can like it or hate it."

With a small hum, Draco turned towards Fred and pulled down the collar of the twin's turtleneck to expose the purple bruise that was forming. He didn't say anything, he just raised his eyebrow and waited for Fred to answer his unasked question.

"Once you willingly give me one, I won't hide it." Fred gave him a grin and pulled Draco's hand away. "If you don't ever want to, then don't. Simple as that."

Still unsure what to do, Draco meant to stand up, but Fred laughed and pulled the blonde into his lap. "Just 'cause you don't want to kiss or cuddle at the moment, Blondie, doesn't mean I'm going to let you escape. After all, I still like cuddling so you're stuck."

"Imbecile."

"Always."

* * *

"Alright, Potter, this is what we're going to do." Draco, Fred and the Golden Trio were back in the Come and Go Room. There was nothing in the room except for extremely soft carpets and large windows that overlooked the castle grounds. "I'm going to enter your mind and -"

"No."

Draco pressed his fingers against his forehead. "Look, Potter, I can't determine what you have to work on if you don't let -"

"No."

Ron stepped forward, a scowl on his face. He looked from Fred to Draco before muttering, "Fine, then show him what's going to happen by using me."

For a few moments Draco wasn't sure what to do or think. It was like flipping a coin with the boy because Ron kept on changing his mind. "I don't understand you, Weasley. One minute you loathe my very existence and the next you're trying to proclaim I'm the next Merlin."

"I hate you, Malfoy. I was raised to. I don't understand what my brothers see in you, but Harry needs your help. Sirius says you're on our side and since Snape can't help, we have no other choice."

"I still don't understand you, Weasley, and I have no desire to. Fine, sit down." A chair was conjured in front of Draco and Ron slowly sat down. "Unlike Potter, you don't know what the mind is supposed to look like if you are an accomplished occulimest. What I'm going to do is point my wand at your face and see what you're doing to protect your mind. I'm not going to go looking for anything, so I'm only going to see what you're thinking about at the time. If you don't want me to know your deepest, darkest secrets, then don't think of them."

Draco did as he said he would and pointed his wand at Ron's face, who flinched a little bit. "It's going to feel uncomfortable. However, it shouldn't be painful seeing as I'm not trying to attack your mind."

"Just get it over with."

"Ron, you don't have to," Harry stepped forward, apparently getting over his shock.

"Mate, leave it."

"Ron -"

"Let him do what he wants, Harry," Hermione murmured, grabbing her friend's arm to keep him still. "We know you. It's easier to show you he's trustworthy by allowing him to enter our minds first."

Instead of letting Harry continue arguing, Draco nodded at Ron and whispered, "_Legilimens_."

True to his word, Draco didn't push at the feeble wall that Ron made. He just slipped through a crack and just floated around. When images passed by, he didn't reach out for them, he just let them move about.

After about a minute, he retreated from the teen's mind. Ron, for his part, only looked slightly winded.

"Did you get the information you needed?"

"If the Dark Lord entered your mind all of us will be in trouble."

"It's not as if we know what we're doing!"

"That's why I'm here, Weasley. I'll start with you since I jumped into your mind first. Stop thinking about walls. They're as inconspicuous as bright neon signs that read: Look at me, I'm Hiding Something!"

Ron blushed, "So what do I do?"

"Which do you prefer most: water, earth, wind, or fire? Which one brings you the most comfort? If you can't pick between two we can work with that as well."

When he got a shrug, Draco sighed. "You'll have decide quickly; before you leave tonight."

"While he thinks, will you tell me what I need to work on?" Hermione stepped forward, holding her chin up. "I want to defeat Voldemort as much as anyone else."

Draco waved Ron away and the boy stood, allowing Hermione to take his place. He didn't give her the same speech as he gave Ron, he just pointed his wand at her and said, "_Legilimens_."

She had already taken Draco's advice for Ron. Instead of a wall, he was greeted with the sight of a rolling ocean. Waves upon waves of memories. Yet, the most important memories were still on top, but at least it was a concept that was further along than Ron's or possibly Harry's.

Draco eased out of Hermione's mind carefully and the girl didn't look pained at all. "Well?"

"You are further along than Weasley; however, it would be easy to find the memories I'm looking for."

Hermione crossed her legs and tilted her head. "I thought you said creating a... 'landscape' with one of the elements would help."

Draco nodded and sat, a chair forming as he did so. "I did. However, your landscape needs work. As soon as summer comes I can show you mine and you can see how it's supposed to be formed. What you need to work on, Granger, is burying the important memories under the surface. Hide them with the motion of the waves or even in the currents that make up water. The more life-like your landscape is, the easier it is to find places to store your memories."

"Of course," she whispered. "It's just too bad you couldn't drown anyone in your mind."

"You would drown yourself in the process if that was possible." Draco waved her away and she moved out of the way. "Well, Potter, do I get to see how you're progressing? I believe Granger said you actually meditate now. Hopefully she isn't lying."

"She wasn't," he muttered as he sat down.

"Good." Draco pointed his wand at Harry's face for a moment before whispering the incantation and he was slipping into Harry's mind. It didn't look like he had taken Draco's advice into consideration. There was still a wall and it was just as bad as it was the first time Draco entered.

He was about to pull out of Harry's mind when a memory was thrown in his face and he couldn't help but watch.

It was a memory of the night before and showed what Malfoy had done. Draco tried everything he could to get out, but he was stuck and he didn't know how or why.

Furious, Draco yanked himself out of the memory and threw his own at Harry without thinking.

It was a day his father had been angry at him because Draco hadn't said the correct response fast enough. It wasn't a good day for his father, so the practice had ended with Draco being crucio'd.

The hold Potter had on him slackened and Draco left Harry's mind as quickly as he could.

A wave of dizziness crashed into Draco and he could feel himself sway; even though he was still sitting down.

"What'd you do?" Fred was in front of Draco seconds later, apparently making sure that the other boy wasn't in pain. When he was satisfied, he turned back around and glared at Harry. "What'd you do?"

"Uh... well... I didn't mean to... I..."

"If Potter was as vindictive as he just was, he would be an extremely well versed occulimest: providing he put in the time and effort and not just depend on dumb luck." Draco shook his head slowly to get rid of the ringing in his ears and stood. "Potter, if you had listened from the very beginning I'm sure that -"

"There wasn't anything to listen to!" Harry snapped, standing up as well. "All Snape did was say, 'keep me out' and jumped in my head, guns a blazing."

He wasn't really sure what Harry meant by 'guns a blazing', but Draco decided to not worry about it and pressed on. "Sev did that? He didn't tell you how to make an adequate landscape?"

"No."

Draco huffed, wishing he could pace, but he wouldn't until the other three were gone. His godfather was a stupid, idiotic, arse who didn't even consider - Draco jumped when he felt a finger touch the bracelet on his wrist.

He raised an eyebrow at Fred who was looking at him in question. Draco shook his head and focused on the other three who were looking pensive about something. "Weasley, did you decide what you want your landscape to look like?"

"I suppose the earth," he muttered.

Draco nodded and sighed, "Then when you meditate you need to either create a landscape or use a landscape that you know, preferably something with lots of bushes, trees, ditches, holes and the like. It doesn't have to perfect yet, but aim for it each time you meditate. Potter, which element will you use?" Draco was almost positive which one the black-haired boy would chose.

"Air."

Draco nodded, "I'm not too familiar with landscapes with air, seeing as you can't really create a landscape."

"Yes you can."

Curious, Draco looked over at Hermione as Harry did the same. "How?"

"With the clouds, of course. He can create whatever he wants at the time and if he wanted to hide something, it could be in the wind that's there."

"Clever." Draco looked away from Hermione so he didn't have to see the look of shock that was sure to cross her features.

"My turn," Fred stepped forward, a grin in place. "I'm going to need to know how I'm doing."

When Fred didn't make any move to sit down, Draco eyed the chair behind him. "Very well, but I have high expectations of you."

"Of course you do."

Rolling his eyes, Draco pointed his wand at Fred, having to look up to meet Fred's eyes. "Don't be a disappointment. _Legilimens_."

Fred wasn't a disappointment. There wasn't anything for Draco to critique. At least not at first. He couldn't even move around in Fred's head. If he did, he moved where Fred wanted him to go.

All he could see were flames licking the path he walked on. Orange and red colors swirled around, different memories playing in each movement. They were there for a brief second before being whisked away. There was nothing to grab onto. If there was a memory he could watch, it would probably be because Fred let him.

When the memories wouldn't move, there would be a gust of wind that would push it along so it was out of sight.

Draco blinked a few times before grinning. "There's more to you then I know," he muttered to himself. He pulled out of Fred's mind and was standing in front of the twin, a small smile in place. "A pleasant surprise. How long have you been working on your landscape?"

"When George and I were about five we stumbled upon a book that explained you could create anything within your mind. We, of course, were fascinated and started trying. Naturally we were bored half the time since we didn't know what we were doing, but once we started Hogwarts we understood the concept and theories and began practicing in earnest."

"I'm constantly surprised by you. I shouldn't be, but I am," Draco muttered as he looked at the other three. "You're still here? Go on, leave."

"Malfoy, you said over the summer you would show us something, but how are you going to do that?"

"I have a plan, Potter. Don't worry about it. However, there is one more thing. I will need to see the passage that the Dark Lord keeps sending you. Perhaps I'll know where it leads."

"You don't know everything."

"Of course I don't, but I know almost everything." Draco smirked and waved the Golden Trio towards the door.

"Before we leave, we want to talk about yester-"

"That is not up for discussion. The only part that concerns you is that I have the ability to take you to the Dark Lord if I so chose. Anything else that happened is not for you three to know."

"But that's my brother!" Ron snapped.

"And I'm sure he's a big boy who can handle himself," Draco muttered, pulling his wand out. "Now leave before I hex you."

"Don't worry, Ronniekins, Malfoy didn't do anything I don't want Draco to do."

Sputtering, Draco whirled on the grinning twin and pointed his wand at Fred. "I'm going to curse you."

"Of course you are," Fred grinned at the three gaping Gryffindors and waved them away. "Go away."

The three quickly exited and left Draco glowering at Fred. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"You just went and said... that!" Draco flicked his wrist and Fred went crashing into a wall. No matter how much Draco wanted to deny it, he could feel his whole face flushing a bright red. "Why would you say that?"

"I would've prefered it if it was you kissing me last night and not Malfoy. You know that, I already told you."

"But not in front of them!"

"Draco," Fred stood up, brushing off his robes, "You know they wouldn't have left or let the discussion drop until I said something along those lines. If I said I didn't want it to happen they would have attempted to fight and that wouldn't have ended well."

Muttering, Draco stormed over to the hammock that appeared in the corner. "Stupid bloody Gryffindor."

* * *

Draco stood in front of Severus, glaring at the man. "You wanted to see me, Sev?" It was the first time he'd seen Severus since the incident.

"I wanted to apologize before Dumbledore sends you a letter."

"What could he have to say to give you cause to apologize?" Draco walked forward to stand behind the chair to grip it. However, he kept his gaze locked on his godfather's.

"He wants you to take up Potter's occlumency lessons and to give him progress reports on the boy."

"Sev, I was here when Potter left in a hurry and you already told me that was expected of me. You have yet to clarify why you're apologizing."

"I'm sorry for having to put you in this situation."

Draco stared at his godfather for a moment before he said, "For having to train Potter? As I already stated, that was expected. Nothing has changed since then. My use is only as a spy or trainer. I understand that."

"He knows about the Weasley twins. He wants them out of the picture. They have no purpose in this war except to raise morale. In order for that to happen they both need to work on their joke shop."

He could feel his stomach clench and his anger began to rise, but he kept it under tight control. "I see. What else does he want?"

"He believes if they are around you he may feel more inclined to use their talents in other ways."

"Severus, you must understand that no one can tell the twins what to do."

"I know that. Dumbledore knows that. He's sure he can spin this to his advantage."

"For the 'greater good'," Draco said, keeping his face carefully controlled. "Is that all?"

"The Dark Lord wishes to know status of gaining Potter and his friend's trust."

Draco thought for a moment, but then he decided he had to take the hardest course of action. "It is proceeding well, more so than I had ever imagined. The best way to prove my allegiance to the light side is to leave the Dark Lord's side. Which means I can not receive the dark mark as planned, however I have come up with an alternative plan if the Dark Lord would be willing to consider it."

Severus leaned forward, eyes narrowed. "And that is?"

"I will take a different form of the mark. It can't be in the same position as anyone else's and it can't be the same form. If the Dark Lord believes it is the best course of action, he can give me my own mark somewhere where no one would think to look."

"It sounds as if you have an idea where it could be placed."

"I have a suggestion that may appeal to his sense of irony, but I understand it is the Dark Lord's decision. He is, after all, the Dark Lord and the wisest of us all. I propose placing it directly above my heart. His mark in that particular location would be a silent slight to Dumbledore. He believes the Dark Lord has no heart, but his followers will always believe in him and his goals."

Draco kept his voice firm and controlled. This would be a memory for the Dark Lord to see, and it had to be believable to an outsider who would never know his true feelings.

"That is all, you may go."

Turning abruptly, Draco left the office and started walking to the Slytherin dorms.

To survive, to keep others alive, Draco would give up everything. After the school year, he would give up the hellions. He would give up Fred. He wouldn't let Fred have a life like his, shrouded in darkness and lies. Fred and his brother deserved the fun and jokes that it would be without him in the picture.

"Deceit." Draco spoke the password and entered the common room.

He gave a nod to the others in the common room and instead of retreating to his room like he wished he went to sit in front of the fire. He ignored the others speaking, but he was there.

If the war ever ended and if the war ended in their favor, Draco would once again give everything up. He never wanted to see his family again, he never wanted to see the castle again, he never wanted to see those who were part of the war, he never wanted to use magic again, he never wanted to have money. He didn't want to be reminded of what he could have had.

He wanted nothing. He didn't want what was at the end of the tunnel for him, but he would get it anyway. Pain and sorrow were a part of his life, and there was no way he would ever be free.

But when he was with Fred, it felt as if he was free of everything. Yet he wasn't allowed to have even that sliver of freedom.

Draco stood up, glaring at the fire. "Draco?"

Ignoring Pansy's call, Draco left the common room and out of the castle. He went towards the Black Lake and just stood there.

The sun was setting and the wind was harsh and cold, making his robes billow around him. He kept his back ramrod straight.

"I refuse," he muttered. "I refuse."

He would refuse Dumbledore everything. He wouldn't tell him anything. Not of Harry, not of himself, not of the twins. For once in his life, Draco would do what he thought was necessary and what was good for him.

"I refuse to be your pawn," he grasped his wand and hurled a bright ball of energy across the lake, keeping a tight rein on his emotions.

Without a backwards glance he turned his back on the Black Lake, a plan forming in his mind.

* * *

A/N So there's 43. This one was like pulling out teeth, so I apologize if it seemed a bit jumpy or sporadic. Anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed it and that everyone who has Spring Break is having fun. :) Oh, and just so you guys know, the end of their fifth year is right around the corner - two chapters ahead.


	44. Was it Worth it?

A/N Alright guys, so this is where you learn all about Draco's past.

* * *

The rest of the week passed quickly. It was soon Friday and most of his classes were over. History of Magic was spent fine tuning his plan and Charms was spent trying to keep his mind occupied so he wouldn't over analyze it. Draco skipped Astronomy all the time - he knew everything that was taught in the class - so he didn't worry about missing it that night.

If there was one flaw in his plan, it was of the Gryffindor Trio. They also had Astronomy, and he would be surprised if Hermione allowed them to miss it, but he needed them to skip just in case his plan took too long to complete.

Draco was pacing in the Come and Go Room, wondering if Fred would be able to meet him there before the Golden Trio arrived. He had said it was important and Fred promised he would come.

"You pace when agitated. I need to tell Georgie," Fred's amused voice came from the vicinity of the door. Draco whirled around and there, leaning against the wall, was a smirking Fred. "You know, I've received random letters before asking to meet them somewhere private for some quality... personal time. This is one of the few times I've bothered to show up."

Raising an eyebrow, Draco asked, "Like Lee Jordan?"

"He was curious about what it would be like in a threesome," Fred shrugged. "Since he's our best friend and it wouldn't go further than snogging him we agreed. If we shagged him I would have had to stare at Georgie... not the person I want to see naked." He gave a shiver before he smirked.

"He wanted to know what it'd be like in a threesome?"

"Yeah. Well, and he wanted to be dominated. Some dark, hidden fantasy he had for a while there. It didn't last very long, though. Now he's happily dating Katie Bell. Ah, Eira, haven't seen you in a while." Fred bent down and pet the kneazle who had grown in height to about a foot.

Eira gave a purr and nudged Fred's hand. "She's been out on the grounds mostly. She doesn't like the castle much." Not that Draco could blame her for that. He reached down and scratched her head, a smile tugging at him when she licked his fingers.

"Alright, Blondie, why'd you ask me down here at this specific time?"

"You said to warn you if I decided to do something... foolhardy."

Fred's relaxed demeanor automatically changed. "I did. What do you have planned?"

* * *

Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the Room of Requirement wondering why Malfoy had called them there.

Fred was sitting on a chair, glaring at Malfoy, but Malfoy didn't seem to notice. He was standing with his back to the window and facing the door. As soon as the door closed, he said, "I know you still don't trust me fully. However, I have come up with a way to... put you three at ease. At least on the subject of my allegiance."

Harry shifted his weight from foot to foot before he finally asked, "What do you have in mind?"

Malfoy looked blank and his voice was detached, "What forms of legilimency do you know of, Granger? The dark forms, that is."

"Only two," she whispered, dropping her eyes. "One of them is to trap yourself in your own mind to protect yourself. It could take years to pull yourself out."

"And the other?"

"To open one's mind completely. It goes through the life of the one who opened their mind, going through the major points in their life. It leaves the person bare to those who enter their mind with them. Up to two people who enter their mind can be chosen to actually feel what the person emotionally went through. Only really skilled occulimests have been able to do this. Three that's been recorded."

Malfoy nodded. "That's what I'm going to do. All four of you will enter and watch my life. However, only Potter and Fred will be able to feel what -"

"No."

Malfoy blinked, his calm facade dropping as he looked over in confusion at Fred. "What?"

"I'm not going to intrude on your life like that. Whatever you want to tell me, you'll do it in your own time. Not like this. I'll stay and make sure nothing bad happens."

"Why would you do this?" Hermione asked softly.

Malfoy pursed his lips, apparently thinking about what he wanted to say. For a second, Harry didn't think that the blonde would answer, but then he did. "I can't help you if you don't trust me. The quickest way for me to get you to trust me is for you to understand my life. This is a way to ensure that there is no possibility of me lying. You can't fake memories in your mind, not in quick succession. I don't know which memories will come up, I don't even know that I'll remember them."

"You would expose your memories to prove to us that you aren't lying?"

"I've given up more than this." Malfoy turned his back to them which Harry was grateful for. He had no idea what to feel about that small statement. Suddenly Malfoy was sitting in front of him in a chair that hugged his body.

"Won't this cause... a fit?" Harry finally asked.

"Perhaps, but it's necessary." He waved his hand and a couch appeared a foot in front of him. "Sit. Potter, you get the middle."

When no one made a move Malfoy sighed, "This is my decision. The only problem that needs to concern you is that you might possibly miss Astronomy."

"I'm in." Ron went and sat down, dragging Harry down with him. "Come on, mate. He's not gonna take no for an answer anyway. Hermione?"

She sighed, but then she nodded, "This once. It's to help us defeat Voldemort." Hermione gave Malfoy a curious glance before sitting on the other side of Harry. "What do we have to do?"

"You just have to look into my eyes after I finish the incantation. You'll be sucked into my memories and none of us will be able to leave until it's over."

Harry gave a nod and he saw that the other two mirrored his movement. Without warning, Malfoy began murmuring lowly under his breath. Harry couldn't make out the words, but then Malfoy was looking up and Harry was sucked into deep blue eyes.

Everything around him went black for a moment, and he couldn't hear anything. He spun in circles, but he still couldn't see or feel anything. His hands flew up in wild gestures as he screamed at himself for being so stupid. Before he could unleash a tirade of curses out, Ron was standing beside him.

Harry grabbed him, but when he tried to speak nothing came out. Ron's eyes widened and he shook his head wildly, pointing to his ears. The two stood beside each other, staring at nothing and beginning to freak out when suddenly Hermione was there.

Ron reached for Hermione and yanked her into his arms. However, before anything more could be done, Malfoy was standing in front of Harry. He spoke, "You three will not be able to talk in here. Once the memories begin I will not either. Granger, Weasley and myself will be spectators. You, Potter, will be in my body and experience everything I felt at the time. If I'm scared, hurt or at a loss; anything emotional I felt at the time, you will as well." The blackness began to fade and so did Malfoy's voice, "and so it begins."

White walls arose behind them and two figures were sitting at a table. One was a very small boy - he couldn't have been a year yet - and the other was a tall woman with black hair. Before Harry could notice anything else, there was a yank and Harry was pulled out of his body.

_Draco crammed a tiny fist in his mouth. There was a lady. The walls hurt his eyes . There was something and he held out his free hand toward it._

_A picture of something was in front of him. It had a squiggly thing on it coming out of a hole that had two smaller holes above it._

_Giving a gurgling laugh, Draco smashed his hand on it._

_"No, Young Malfoy, that's the Dark Mark, you have to respect it."_

_His hand was caught and he began to scream. Fat tears rolled down his cheeks, but she gave his face a sharp slap. Draco paused, but then it began to hurt and his screaming grew louder._

_"What are you doing to my son?" A pretty lady with long blonde hair walked in. Draco let his fist drop out of his mouth and he held out both pudgy arms to her._

_"Ma! Ma!" She was safe. She was home. The other lady was scary._

_In one swift moment he was swept up in her arms. He buried his face in her neck and grasped her soft hair. It tickled his nose and his mouth clamped around some strands._

_He chewed on them until she gently pried it out of his mouth._

_"My apologies, Madam Malfoy. I was just showing him the Dark Mark. He needs to understand what it means."_

_"How is he going to understand what the Dark Mark is when he can't even create full sentence?"_

_"Of course, ma'am. My apologies."_

Harry dragged in a deep breath as he was placed in his body again. The walls began to dissolve and he saw Malfoy staring straight ahead avoiding him. He had a curious look on his face, but Harry just shrugged it off.

That memory hadn't been much. There was only confusion, being scared and finding comfort. Though Harry didn't know what to make of the fact that he had been Malfoy for a few minutes.

Before he had much chance to ponder it, walls were coming up and even before shapes were seen Harry was once again pulled out of his body.

_He was lying on his back. A red dragon was squashed on his chest while his legs flailed in the air. One of the stuffed legs of the dragon found its way into his mouth where he happily munched on it._

_Both his Mama and Dada were sitting next to him. He squealed as his Dada pushed him gently over to the side. He curled around his doll as he rolled onto his stomach. "Dada! Dada!" He giggled as he tried to crawl forwards, but he kept on getting caught on the plushy._

_Mama giggled and rose gracefully on her knees. She gently picked him up to stand and after taking a firm grip of his pudgy hands, helped him to walk forward towards his Dada._

_When he got there, his Mama dropped his hands and he plopped on his butt. He clapped his hands, ignoring the dragon when it dropped out of his grip._

_"I still can't believe it," His mama whispered._

_"He really is gone, Cissa."_

_Crawling forward, he slowly climbed into his Dada's lap. He sighed, clutching the material and rubbing his nose on it._

_"Is there anything we can do?"_

_"No, Dumbledore has already taken him to his family."_

_He was beginning to nod off, his eyes closing. So sleepy._

_"We owe him so much."_

_"I know," his Dada ran his fingers over his head. "We always pay back our debts somehow."_

Harry staggered back a step and he stared wide-eyed as the three figures began to mist away. He turned and found Draco looking straight at him. When Harry pointed at himself, Draco merely inclined his head and turned back to face where the memories had been coming from.

The walls had barely began to manifest when Harry was was yanked out of his body.

_Draco wiped his eyes, trying to push the tears away. There had been a mad man in his dreams and he had hurt his Mum and Dad. He wasn't allowed to do that. No sooner did that thought cross his four year-old mind, Draco was being hurt before he woke up with a start._

_Wanting his Mum and Dad, Draco flipped over to his belly, grabbed his red dragon before sliding off of his bed. The toddler jogged toward his parents room. His hair was in disarray and his eyes were bleary so he tripped every few steps, but he finally managed to get to the large door of his parents room._

_Before he could push it open, he heard his Dad whispering, "The mark's burning, Cissa."_

_"But he's been gone for three years!" His mum whispered back. "He can't be back. We swore we would keep Draco safe."_

_"And we will," his dad sounded sad and it made Draco forget most of his bad dream. "We'll just have to train him."_

_Not understanding, Draco pushed the door open with a thumb in his mouth. "Why are you sad, Daddy?"_

_His dad sat up and walked over to him. He didn't wear anything but his boxers so when he kneeled to hug Draco to his chest, Draco couldn't help but giggle as his dad's chest hair tickled him._

_"Nothing, son. I just want you happy."_

_"I'll be happy if you're happy."_

_His dad chuckled and held him tighter, "I want you to remember the most important thing, Draco. Its -"_

_"Family is everything," Draco interrupted. "I know, Daddy. You say it all the time."_

_Chuckling humorlessly, his Dad nodded, "That I do."_

The next couple of memories didn't have any break between them. One second Harry felt that he was being hugged and the next he was in his chair being taught how to eat and sit properly. The red dragon being tossed out. He was learning martial arts and he was told how to meditate. They were only glimpses of annoyance and confusion, but Draco did what he was told because his parents asked him to.

_"This is Harry Potter?" Draco tilted his head, a smile on his face. "How come he doesn't look happy in this picture?" The black-haired boy wasn't looking forward and he had a frown in place. His forehead was covered so Draco couldn't see the scar there, not that it was important. Harry had protected Draco's family even though Harry probably didn't remember it._

_"I'm not sure, Draco. Dumbledore said he was with his family."_

_"Maybe he wasn't with his family when the picture was taken and that's why he's sad." Draco nodded, that had to be it. The boy who saved them all was supposed to be happy. He wouldn't be forced to do everything Draco had to do._

_The six year old huffed, "Make him happy, Dad! You said that he saved us, why does he have to be unhappy?"_

_Lucius chuckled and ruffled his son's hair, "We can't always be happy. We have to all be sad sometimes."_

_"It's not fair."_

_"Things are rarely fair. Now come, what did I say about slouching?"_

_"No one's here, Dad! You said that I only have to act like a 'proper pure-blood' when other people are here!"_

_"Lets pretend."_

_"I don't wanna!"_

_"Draco Lucius," his dad's tone dipped low and Draco sighed._

_"Alright."_

Harry couldn't help it. He stared between Malfoy and where the two memory people were. He simply couldn't stop himself from gaping. This was not who he had thought Malfoy was as a kid, but it didn't change his mind about the other boy at all. Not one bit.

_Draco stared between his mum and dad. He didn't understand why his mum was crying or reminding his dad that he was eight. His dad should remember that. His mum was leaving, and he felt like he should reassure her, "Mum, Dad won't do anything to hurt me."_

_But that didn't seem to help at all. More tears fell and she all but fled the room._

_Still not understanding, Draco looked over at his dad, "Will Mum be alright, Dad?"_

_"She will be, Draco." When Draco went to glare at his dad, Lucius knelt in front of him and continued, "You know I will do anything to protect you, right?"_

_"Yep!" Of course he knew that. His dad would protect him from everything._

_"Say it correctly."_

_Annoyed, Draco sighed and stood taller, "Yes, Dad."_

_"Good. Now be still." Draco watched as his dad drew his wand out of his sleeve, but he didn't fear him. His dad wouldn't hurt him. "Imperio."_

_He felt light and funny. He could hear a voice in his head, telling him to do cartwheels around the room. He did so without any hesitation. After all, his father wouldn't let him do anything to harm himself._

_After a long while, he didn't feel so light headed, but he was tired. Draco laid down in front of his dad, a grin in place as he wheezed in some deep breaths, "Dad, I did stuff I couldn't do on my own!" Yet when he looked at his dad and saw disappointment, Draco cringed._

_"No, Draco. That isn't good."_

_"Why not? I've always wanted to do tumbling, but you've always said no. But I got to do it this time around, and I did it right!"_

_"No, Draco." Draco couldn't help himself, he huffed and crossed his arms at his dad's words. "I was controlling you. Telling you what to do. I thought you told me, a few days ago, that you hated me telling you what to do."_

_"No, I don't," Draco muttered as he shook his head._

_"You like taking orders?"_

_Draco sat up and kicked the floor, "You always say that to protect Mum and you I have to listen and do as you say. The one time I didn't listen, I got Mum sick," even though he tried, Draco couldn't stop the couple of tears that fell down his face. "I lied when I told you that I don't like listening."_

_"Ok, but when someone tells you to do something in your mind, no matter who it is or how fun it sounds, you don't do it. Do you understand me?"_

_Draco nodded, keeping his eyes downcast as he wiped his tears away, "Ok, I won't listen to them. I promise."_

_"We're going to try something else now. You remember I love you, don't you?"_

_"Yes, Dad."_

_"Good." Draco jumped when he felt his father kiss his forehead. "Forgive me."_

_"For what?" Draco tilted his head to the side, finally looking up at his dad._

_But his dad didn't answer, he just pointed his wand at Draco and said, "Crucio," and all Draco could feel after that was pain, confusion and betrayal._

Memory after memory flew by of Malfoy's past. Everything that Harry had first thought of the other boy was being ripped to shreds in front of him.

There were memories of Lucius being crazy and torturing his son to his limit before he seemed to realize what he was doing. They may have been rare moments in Malfoy's life, but Harry was going through them and they seemed anything but rare.

Draco's - he couldn't bring himself to call him Malfoy anymore after feeling what the boy had felt - mother patched him up and healed him. If she was out, it was Dobby. Dobby always had kind words to say and Draco would always give him a huge grin even if he was in pain. After a while, Draco seemed to grow numb to the pain.

Snape would come and go and help Draco with his occlumency to make sure his training was going well.

Then it was the first year at Hogwarts and the 'mask' that Draco had perfected would stay on for a whole year.

Few memories of first year flashed in front of his eyes. The first time Draco had met Harry he hated himself for acting like he had to. He did it all without understanding why he did what he did.

Then the summer before second year came and he was where Draco had stood as he watched Harry leave Flourish and Blotts with the Weasleys and Grangers. They were all laughing and having a good time, but all Draco could think of was protecting his family and Harry even as he wished he could be as carefree as Harry seemed at that moment.

_Draco stood gripping the railing in his hands as he looked over the edge of the Astronomy tower. He couldn't see the ground, it was too far away and it was too dark._

_He wondered what it would be like to free fall and land against the ground and just die. If he did he wouldn't have to lie. He didn't have to be around people that he hated and people who hated him. He didn't have to pretend to detest the people he wanted as friends and have them actually detest him in return._

_It hurt. He dropped his forehead to the rail, wishing he could just do it. But he couldn't. His mum and father needed him alive. They gave him the best he could have for someone in his position._

_Still, he wished he didn't have to do what was asked of him. He wanted more from life. He wanted to have something... more, but he didn't know what _more_ was._

_Draco peeked over the edge again. He didn't have to go now. Maybe he would have the chance later and not have the guilt of leaving his mum and father behind. Maybe._

_He was only twelve and he had five more years in the school._

_He still had time to decide._

The memories kept coming, faster and faster. Seeing the twins in the library, the Buckbeak incident, the Room of Requirement and the cold room, the mask coming alive, the Quidditch World Cup, the meetings with Snape fortifying Draco's landscape, trying to keep Harry alive, getting the weird package from his mother, the twins taking the vow and changing their appearance for Draco, Dumbledore manipulating Draco, Zabini becoming involved, becoming Pup, and then having the twins, Zabini and Draco passing out because of something Snape did.

Their fifth year summer. After seeing what Draco had gone through with the Death Eaters at Voldemort's insistence, Harry wanted to stop and hurl, but he didn't have the luxury of time. He didn't feel the pain, just what Draco was feeling emotionally. He had given up so much, but the memories hadn't stopped. They were propelling him forward into their fifth year.

Talking to Sirius. Dumbledore asking for Draco to keep giving things up, to alienate himself. Draco _allowing_ for that to happen. Snape jumping into his mind again and again even though it hurt more each time. Malfoy coming out. Meetings with Snape about the Dark Lord, what to pass on and what to keep silent on. Passing things on to Dumbledore. He became closer to the twins. Trying to warn them about the visions. The self-loathing when he realized who Nagini had attacked. Getting involved with Harry, Hermione and Ron and trying to get them to understand how important it was for Harry to block out the visions. The incident when Harry jumped into Draco's head with Snape.

The walk with Crookshanks when he felt that he had nothing left in England. The realization that he didn't want to stay. Knowing that he would only want the twins around, but knowing that he was only a distraction or a puzzle for them.

George was leaving, but then Fred wasn't. Fred kissing him. Draco pursuing him and the second kiss with Draco not understanding why Fred would want to.

The memory where Malfoy came out and kissed Fred himself.

The last memory shown was the one where Draco was in Snape's office and was told to let the twins go. Draco went to the Black Lake and began his plan to let the Gryffindors know all the facts so they could make a decision whether to trust him or a man who told them basically nothing.

Then Harry was being hurled away. Taking in a deep breath, Harry realized he was in his own body. Even as he went to open his eyes, a loud scream came in front of him and Harry didn't know what to do as he jumped to his feet.

* * *

Fred had been tempted to take a nap, but he wanted to be prepared for anything when they came back. The hours passed and it was growing close to ten and they had started at seven.

Pacing, Fred didn't let his eyes fall from Draco. More minutes passed and he let out a relieved sigh when he heard Harry take in a loud gasp of air.

But his heart dropped when he saw Draco convulse and a scream seemed to be ripped out of the blonde.

Draco began to spasm and his body jerked everywhere. His mouth was open as scream after scream echoed around the room. Fred was rushing forward and he forced himself behind the blonde. He wrapped his arms and legs around Draco, keeping the other boy still.

His stomach was clenched tightly and he could hardly breathe, but he refused to let go of Draco. If he did, he didn't know what kind of damage Draco might do to himself.

The other three Gryffindors were out of his mind. He didn't know what happened to them, where they were or what they were doing. His only concern was Draco.

He closed his eyes and waited for Draco's fit to stop.

It lasted an hour, but it was halfway through when Draco lost his voice again. As soon as Draco was passed out, Fred changed the armchair into a bed and carefully pulled the blankets over the comatose blonde.

Placing a charm around Draco so that Fred knew when he woke up, Fred sat down and held his head in his hands.

When a hand was placed on his shoulder he jumped and had his wand out before he realized it was Hermione. Tired brown eyes looked over at the three Gryffindors, "Was it worth it?"

Hermione nodded, but Fred was looking at Harry. The boy's eyes were moist and he couldn't look at Fred or Draco. "I don't know how he survived this long."

Fred didn't know either. He would have broken long before and Draco was still pushing forward. He grasped the Slytherin's hand in his.

There were only two things that were running through his mind. The first was the question: was it worth it? It ran over and over again, begging to be answered.

The second was the only suitable answer he found: nothing was worth seeing Draco in that much pain.

* * *

A/N Ok, so it was more of a crash course of his life. I'm going to apologize here for writing something I have already (the time where he was imperioed and crucio'd by his dad) but it was important for Harry to go through himself. Hope you guys enjoyed!

Also, I have over a 100 followers and reviews! You guys have no idea how excited I am! I never expected that to happen, so thanks a bunch! You guys are the best :D


	45. Left Alone

A/N This is a short chapter since there wasn't all that much needed in here. But here you go, chapter 45. :D Just as a warning, I had troubles writing ch 47 and 48 because they - the characters - decided to change some things on me. Since this story has completely changed from what I first had planned out, I might update slower than what's usual so I apologize in advance. :)

Last thing, promise, for all the guests that reply: thank you so much! And for the one of you who feared about rambling, I don't care. haha. The rambling is awesome, though I can't answer the questions because the characters keep changing everything on me. So I'll know only a few chapters ahead of everyone else. :)

* * *

Draco sat on the hammock, glaring at the twin, "There are no lasting effects." His legs were crossed and his arms were in his lap. His eyes were drooping as he had been woken only an hour earlier and he hadn't quite recovered from letting the golden trio into his mind. Fred once again had to heal Draco's throat, but other than that everything had been fine with the blonde.

"It's Sunday evening, Blondie. There's no way you should be going to class." Fred was standing in front of the hammock, his arms crossed with a glare of his own. "You can't even use the excuse of Umbridge. Your defense class starts on Tuesday."

"Does my schedule play an important role for you to know everything about it?"

"Nah, George and I were just curious about when we could steal you away." The easygoing words were rebuffed by the glare on his face. "Don't change the subject."

"We were talking about my schedule. Therefore, there was no change in subject."

"You can barely walk. I had to help you get to the hammock."

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Your point is what, exactly?" He looked down and saw Eira lying on pillows under him. She had her large, bright blue eyes locked on his and purred. Her large bushy tail was wrapped around her body.

"How are you going to get from class to class tomorrow?"

"As I have for the past five years: place one foot in front of the other and enter the rooms. It's a simple process, perhaps you should give it a try sometime." Draco was getting annoyed, but he also found it amusing that Fred was arguing with him.

"This isn't funny, Draco."

"I didn't imply otherwise. I'm not going to sit for another day when I can go about my business without any issues."

"But you aren't -"

"Fred, if it were easy to create your experiments, would you find it as satisfying?"

"No, I wouldn't. What satisfaction are you getting out of this?"

"The Dark Lord gave me the potion to make me suffer. I've endured, but I don't want the pain to rule how I live my life. I don't need the day off, so I won't stay here. The satisfaction is knowing that I decide how I deal with suffering."

Fred groaned, but before he could react, the door banged open and the other three Gryffindors raced in. "It happened!"

Draco raised an eyebrow when the three froze at the sight of him awake. "Why is it so difficult for you to be specific, Potter?" The three fidgeted and looked back and forth between each other. "Say what you were going to say, but be articulate."

"I had the dream about Sirius," Harry finally blurted out and then he brought out his mirror. "He's not answering the mirror, and he always answers the mirror."

"Calm down, Potter. The Dark Lord said that it -"

"What if he lied to you?"

Sighing, Draco couldn't rebuff that question. The Dark Lord could very well have lied to him. However, if the Dark Lord was able to take the mutt he would have done it long ago. He wouldn't have cared that it would ruin whatever plans he had for Draco if it meant that he could get Harry.

"That is true. However, before you do something rash, we're going to ensure that we know what is really happening." Draco held out his hand and his diary flew into his palm. He quickly wrote:

_Hellions,_

_George, Harry had the vision. Check to see if the mutt is home._

_Draco_

He tapped his wand and made it glow for a second so it would do the same to the diary that George had taken with him so that he, Fred and Draco could still communicate. "Now, how did you speak to the mutt before you realized you had the mirror in your possession?"

"Letters and the fireplace before I found the mirror."

"Any communication through the floo will be monitored by Umbridge." Setting his diary down, Draco carefully stood up and waved Fred's hands away. "I'm fine. However, Umbridge's office will not be monitored since she is part of the ministry."

"But what if we're caught?" Ron asked, but at least his voice wasn't laden with suspicion.

"That's the point, Weaselbee. We can get rid of her and find out if the Mutt is alright in one go," Draco shook his head. "Out of the three of you, who is the best actor?"

Ron and Harry didn't hesitate. They two boys pointed to Hermione who blushed. When Draco looked at her, she nodded. "The boys are helpless."

"I knew Potter was a lousy liar and Weaslebee has anger issues."

"Oi!"

"It's true, though," Fred stepped forward and wrapped an arm around Draco's shoulder. When Draco tried to shrug him off, Fred shook his head, "Not gonna happen, Blondie. What's your plan?"

"For the plan to work, you'll need three trustworthy people. I'll explain it to you, then you'll explain it to them. I will be Pup while this plays out." When he got all nods, he continued. "We'll also make a plan B just in case she doesn't fall for the first one. You," he turned into Fred, "will not dispute what I'm about to say."

Fred tensed and he didn't give a nod, "I will if I need to."

Closing his eyes, Draco tried to rein in his temper. He spoke slowly, "It's plan B. If plan A doesn't work then we have to have something to fall back on in order to rid ourselves of Umbridge. That was part of the deal. Do not -"

"You went over and beyond what those three asked of you."

"Umm... we don't -" Harry stopped talking when both Draco and Fred glared at him.

"It's rude to eavesdrop, Potter."

"Stay out of this, Harry."

Harry held up his hands in surrender and Draco turned back to Fred. "It doesn't matter. The sooner she's gone, the sooner we don't have to worry about her and we can accomplish what needs to be done. Do not argue with me."

"You don't have to be involved."

"Who said that I was?"

"You know she hates Pup."

"That I do. Which is why we'll use that to our advantage. That's if our original plan doesn't work or if these three don't have trustworthy friends."

"We do," Hermione finally integrated and nearly flinched when Draco turned to narrow his eyes at her. "We don't have much time."

"And I really want to know if Sirius is sa-"

Even as Harry was talking, the diary lit up. Draco ignored the other three, knowing that they understood what the flash of light meant since it was one of the many memories of his they saw.

Draco opened the diary to read out loud:

_"Blondie,_

_He's fine. I'm at his place. Buckbeak's ill. Freddie, don't let him do anything rash._

_G_

_P.S. Sirius says hi"_

Snapping it closed, he growled, "What is up with you Gryffindors and P.S.'s? They are annoying." Without waiting for a reply because he didn't want to hear one, he asked, "Satisfied, Potter? Now, here's what we're going to do."

* * *

Harry was in the common room staring at the flames as they danced. Draco's plan had worked perfectly. He, Ron and Hermione had made it into the toad's office without problems and made a floo connection while Luna, Neville, Ginny, Fred and Draco - as Pup - created a distraction.

Sirius wasn't the one who answered. Kreacher stood before the floo and said that Sirius was never going to come back from the Ministry. Even though he wanted to trust Draco, every fiber told him not to. There was no proof that what Kreacher said and what his dream told him hadn't been the truth. Draco didn't even know for sure what was truth and what was a lie.

Hands had yanked Harry out of the flames and he, Hermione and Ron were standing in front of a heavily breathing Umbridge. Moments later Luna, Neville and Ginny were being pushed in by Nott, Crabbe and Goyle. Minutes had passed until Snape had turned up where he denied the toad Veritaserum. As Snape was leaving, Harry tried to warn Snape that Padfoot was missing, but he didn't think Snape understood as the greasy git just left with a sneer.

Hermione had been brilliant, executing the plan as Draco had ordered. She had tricked the toad into believing they had the weapon finished for Dumbledore and that she, Ron and Harry were the only ones who knew where it was. The three had lead her deep into the forest with Hermione in the front. The plan was to get her to Grawp - how Draco had remembered the giant from that one conversation that seemed long ago Harry didn't know - but the giant had been gone. However, centaurs appeared and carted her away with her screaming bloody murder at the 'filthy half-breeds'.

Neville, Ginny and Luna appeared from behind some of the trees with the three Slytherins' wands, pleased grins on their faces. Apparently they had been able to beat the Slytherins even without their own wands and had followed Hermione, Ron and Harry in case they were needed.

Before Harry could do something foolish, his mirror vibrated in his robes. He pulled it out and there was Sirius, safe and sound. While he talked to Sirius, the small group made their way back to the castle.

It seemed as if he owed Draco, but he had no idea how he could pay him back.

* * *

It was the last day of the school year and the group was in the Come and Go Room. Hermione and Ron were on a couch apart from everyone, watching warily. Fred was sitting on a different couch behind Draco with a full blown smirk in place.

Draco and Harry were facing off. Draco was furious and Harry seemed to be confused on why Draco would be mad at him.

"Stop, Potter." Draco pulled his wand out and leveled it at the black-haired boy. "You do not get to mention debts to me. I never want to hear you utter those words again, is that understood? If you so much as say that you owe me a knut, I will hex your face off."

"I just don't get it!" Harry yanked on his hair. "You kept us all out of danger, why can't I?"

"Stupid Gryffindor!" Draco spat. He tried to keep his voice steady and his hand firm, but he couldn't. Harry would never owe him. "You were in my memories and you know what I felt at those times. That gives you no right to -"

Hands on his shoulders caused him to flinch and stop talking. "You don't understand, Harry," Fred muttered, wrapping his arms around Draco's waist. Draco didn't bother trying to push him away, he just wanted to get off the current topic. "Now, why did you want all of us here, Blondie?" Plopping onto the couch, Fred dragged Draco down with him.

"To talk about this summer. I will be able to take the potion tomorrow. Afterwards I will most likely be taken to the Dark Lord. I will in all probability be marked in some fashion; after that happens I will be released to come back to you." Draco didn't mention that there was a possibility of being beaten and hexed for his 'defection' to look believable. If he did, Draco feared that Fred would somehow find a way to get him to not go. "Now, when I return, I will need a place to stay. I will never be allowed at the Weasley's place for the simple fact that I am a Malfoy."

"Why should that make a difference?" Fred asked quietly.

"Simple. Our families are involved in a blood-feud that began centuries ago. We've all forgotten what it was regarding, but at some point each family placed wards around their homes to keep the other family out. I assume once anyone in your lot that gets a home they are ordered to erect a ward for that purpose."

"Well, we won't!" Fred muttered, wrapping his arms around Draco tightly. "I refuse to keep you out."

Draco patted Fred's arms without realizing he had. "I will need a place to stay. Once I turn sixteen in a few days, I'll be able to apparate where ever I need to go. That will include going to the Dark Lord's side." Draco let his eyes drift from Harry to Ron to Hermione. "I can not simply give up my life as a spy. Do you understand?"

All three nodded and Draco sighed, disentangling one arm to rub his forehead. "Next year will be interesting as I might be ordered to join your 'posse', or it might look strange to the Dark Lord."

"What if the same things happen -"

"Don't mention what I've gone through, Weaslebee. I let you three see those memories for the sole purpose of gaining your trust in me. Now that you do, do not mention anything you've witnessed to me. I am more than aware of my past and I don't need reminders."

The three nodded and Draco briskly moved on, "That's all I have to say. If you three having nothing else to report, then you can leave."

The three others didn't wait. They all left without another word. When the door closed behind them, Draco once again closed his eyes and turned into Fred completely. He was exhausted and he just wanted to sleep.

Fred rearranged himself to where he had his legs stretched out on the couch and Draco was between his them with his head resting on Fred's chest. Wrapping his arms around Draco, the two fell asleep quickly.

* * *

Draco stared at his father blankly, his mask firmly in place. They had just left King's Cross, but instead of standing on the path of the manor, they were in front of something else. It looked like a run-down cabin.

Lucius dragged him forward and Draco held back a shiver as they passed through the wards. The cabin turned into something that looked like a castle, but before he could get a good look his father had apparated them again.

The room the two appeared in was empty. Draco felt his father release his arm, but before he could turn towards him, there was a _pop_ and he was left alone.

* * *

A/N If you guys were wondering why he put 'hellions' instead of 'hellion' when he wrote the note to George it was because the diary was charmed for both of the twins, not one of them. So it wouldn't have been 'sent' if he had wrote 'hellion'. Also, I didn't write the whole thing with Umbridge because then I would be writing pretty much from the book and I don't want to do that too much. And I fear that this isn't the best chapter I've written, so blarg to that. Haha. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!

Oh yeah, this is the last chapter to year five! Lol! Finally, right?


	46. Being Quiet

Cavernous rocks loomed high above Draco, hard concrete standing firm beneath his booted feet. He worked to not to sway and he viciously locked away the feeling of exhaustion. His father was no longer standing with him. There were no doors and there were no windows.

Along the towering walls were flames that seemed to lick up and down, the orange and red sparks moving slowly around the room.

Shadows floated everywhere and Draco had to fight the urge to slip to the ground and sleep. The past week had been detrimental to his already spastic health.

_You need me._

Draco stiffened and his pale blue eyes bored into the walls. _I will not. You will ruin everything._

_I have yet to 'ruin' anything. Please. I'm not stupid. We're in the middle of a dangerous balancing act. I have no desire to die anymore than you do._

Malfoy could feel the exhaustion retreating somewhere else. It was easy to stand up straight and tall as he studied the room. His wand was still with him, so it was easy to asses that he was not being put on... trial was the best description he could come up with.

Pacing back and forth, Malfoy stayed as far away from the walls as possible. Tiny rubble fell to the floor in the crumbling room with tiny plopping sounds. His soft footsteps echoed around him quietly, but Malfoy was searching for a way out. Cold, silver eyes observed every nook and cranny.

"You have pleased me, Draco."

Malfoy neutralized the smirk that wanted to show as he turned, keeping his hands by his side. He gave a low bow as he murmured, "My Lord." As he stood, he kept his eyes away from the Dark Lord's as he focused on the uses of a unicorn's horn.

"Raise your eyes." Doing as he told, Malfoy unflinchingly faced the Dark Lord's red eyes glowing from his hooded face. With the Dark Lord was his Aunty Bella. In her hands was a steaming goblet. Behind her was a door. "You have gained favor with Potter. Now we can move forward."

Bowing his head again, Malfoy muttered, "For you, My Lord, I would give up everything." Not him, per se, but Draco would to protect his family. It was basically the same thing.

"Give him the potion."

Bella strode forward and handed the goblet over to her nephew. Without hesitation Malfoy brought it to his lips, his face twitching at the horrid taste. Once he was finished Malfoy gave the goblet back to his aunt, his eyes still on the Dark Lord, wondering why it was the Dark Lord who gave him the antidote instead of his godfather.

"Severus told me of your desire to be marked. He showed me the memory of your talk. Today, Draco, you will be marked. However, because you will have a... unique Death Mark, one other will carry it as well."

The Dark Lord gave a small gesture with his hand and Malfoy kept his face neutral. His unasked question was answered when Narcissa walked in. "My Lord has summoned me?"

Malfoy stood where he was, undisturbed that Narcissa was there. Her royal blue robes fitting her perfectly and her head held high even when she curtsied.

"You will be marked with your son."

Narcissa eyes darted over to Malfoy, but the boy didn't flinch or spare her even a glance. He kept his body facing the Dark Lord who kept his gaze intently on Draco, not deeming Narcissa's presence worthy of his attention.

"Of course, my Lord." Narcissa strode forward to stand beside her son, her chin held high. She began to roll up her left sleeve.

Bella cackled and shook her head, "Cissa, you'll be getting a special mark. Bare your skin above your heart, sister."

Malfoy watched dispassionately as Narcissa carefully lowered her robes just enough for the Dark Lord's wand tip to touch her unblemished skin. Draco worried for his mother's safety, but was too tired to fight Malfoy for control. Malfoy remained dispassionate as the scene played out before him; he was strong enough to keep everything they had worked for from falling apart.

"_Mors anguis_." Black ink seeped out of the Dark Lord's wand and onto Narcissa's creamy skin. As it touched her skin, the ink turned a sickly gray color. More and more ink swirled out of the Dark Lord's wand until her heart was circled well over ten times. As the last drop was absorbed into her skin, the whole thing moved until one end was positioned directly above her heart. Black eyes opened and so did its mouth, showing an inky blue maw with fangs poised precisely over her heart.

Narcissa shivered as Bella clapped in delight. "The Black Mamba! A wonderful choice, my Lord!"

The Dark Lord ignored Bella's enthusiasm and turned to Malfoy who immediately shrugged off his robes and draped it over his arm prior to unbuttoning his shirt to reveal his scarred chest.

"Yes, I am quite pleased with you." The Dark Lord pressed his wand over Malfoy's heart, "_Anguis sicarius_." The blonde barely glanced down as the black ink began to appear on his skin. It turned a light shade of gray, different from Narcissa's, and it wrapped and wrapped around his heart.

The last bit of ink seeped into his skin and the black eyes opened. However, instead of opening its mouth, the snake rested its head on top of Malfoy's heart.

The Dark Lord drew his wand back and Malfoy buttoned up his shirt up, leaving the top few buttons undone so the eery eyes were staring out. He quite liked the snake, it seemed dangerous and Malfoy was curious to find out what exactly his mark would do.

"I have no use for ignorant minions, Draco. Tell me what was the purpose of the potion you drank last year at your initiation?" The Dark Lord began to circle Draco, his wand out and hanging loosely in his hand.

"I served as an example, my Lord. I was given a potion that multiplied the pain I experienced."

"Very good. This is your reminder now." The Dark Lord held up a single finger towards Malfoy's heart. He uttered something and black light flashed towards Malfoy. However, it misted away just before it hit him.

A gasp was heard and Malfoy looked over towards Narcissa, who was kneeling on the ground with her hands clenched within the folds of her robes. Bella was watching intently as she bounced lightly on the balls of her feet. Malfoy had to push Draco down when he saw the snake tightening around Narcissa's heart, venom dripping from its black fangs that landed on its scales.

"If there is ever a hint of betrayal from you, Draco, it will not be your death that comes first. You will suffer with the knowledge that you killed your mother before I kill you." The Dark Lord turned and strode out of the room, his voice carried to Malfoy as he went. "Continue to please me, Draco, and you will be rewarded."

Malfoy watched detachedly as Bella reached down to aid Narcissa to her feet. The proud blonde woman slapped her older sister's hand away, "Draco."

He walked over, held his arm out to his mother and Narcissa pulled herself into a standing position before using her palms to straighten her robes. With a stiff nod Malfoy dropped his hand to his side and watched her struggle and weave towards the door, her head held high with Bellatrix following closely behind her. Malfoy was on his own again, and he pulled a coin out of his pocket. It wasn't any wizarding coin, but some old Muggle one.

He sneered down at it and muttered, "Idiots," before he said clearly with disdain, "_Blondie_." Seconds later he felt the tug at his navel and he allowed himself to be yanked away, letting Draco have control again.

* * *

Fred heard a light thump sound and there was Draco, passed out on the floor. Rushing over, the Weasley twin swooped him into his arms and laid him down on the couch that was in the small room.

He crouched down on the ground, placing his head on the couch and narrowed his eyes in concentration. The blonde's breathing was normal and he wasn't trembling like he would have if he was in pain.

The door to his and George's flat flew open and his twin walked in, his head buried in a book. "Hey Freddie, when did you say Blondie would be here?"

"He's here."

George dropped his book and came jogging over, a smile in place. "Where is he? He's not in his room yet is - what happened?" He fell to his knees beside his brother and pressed his hand to Draco's forehead. "He doesn't have a fever. Nothing seems wrong. Why's he on the couch?"

"I put him there..."

"Why are you just staring at him?"

"I'm trying to figure out why he's not awake," Fred muttered, continuing to stare at Draco with a frown as George tapped his fingers on the couch. "He activated the portkey I gave him two days ago, but he was passed out when he landed which doesn't make that much sense."

"Unless the other guy was in control."

"If he was, then why did he use the portkey to get here?"

"Fair point. And why would he give back control to Blondie?"

"There's that too, but he's done it before."

"True. That time with the greasy potions slimeball."

"For no reason he gave control back to Draco even though he could have stayed in control longer."

"That doesn't explain why he would do this."

"And why he was in control in the first place."

"You two are too loud."

"And why - Blondie!" The last word was a shout from both of the twins.

A large grin overtook Fred's face while George laughed happily. Without much forethought, Fred leaned forward and pecked Draco on the nose while the blonde blinked slowly up at them. "Why were you passed out?"

"Did you just kiss my nose?"

"Yep!"

Draco just stared at Fred a moment, confusion etched on his face, "Why?"

Ah, the blonde was much more innocent than Fred had ever guessed. Always second guessing and wondering why Fred did what he did. It was so endearing. "Because I wanted to. Anyway, back to the issue at hand, why were you passed out when you got here?"

"I don't know," he grumbled, grabbing a pillow and curling around it. "I'm still tired and I just want to sleep."

"Nuh uh, not yet," George grabbed the pillow and tossed it over his shoulder. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"I was too tired to stand in front of the Dark Lord so I let Malfoy come out. That's it though, I don't remember anything else."

There was a long pause of silence before Draco sighed and sat up, his hands going to the buttons on his shirt. "Whoa, Blondie!" Fred reached out and stopped Draco's movements.

"If you want to give Fred a strip tease, then go to your own room!" George laughed, but then he froze when he saw the seriousness on Draco's face. "What's up?"

"Malfoy said I have to look at where my heart is. I'm assuming that means that the Dark Lord followed my suggestion and has marked me."

Fred clenched his jaws tightly together, looking down at the blonde's chest and saw something gray peeking through. His hands grasped Draco's harshly. Draco raised his eyes to Fred's and the calm blue ones made Fred calm just a little bit, but he pushed Draco's hands away. "I'll do it."

"I'm quite capable of undoing a few buttons."

"I'm sure you are, but you're exhausted and you're swaying. You look like you're about to drop so it'll be quicker if I just do it."

George nodded, "Freddie's right, Blondie. You're about as white as a ghost. Not including the Bloody Baron, of course."

Draco sighed again, but he inclined his head. Fred deftly began to undo the next two buttons, revealing pale, alabaster skin with faint marks on them. Fred's hands lingered, wishing he could reach out and touch, but Draco pushed his hands away with a scowl. "I'm well aware of my scars. Do not remind me of them by staring at them."

Fred was going to retort that he wasn't looking at his scars when Draco pulled his shirt to the left and revealed the skin above his heart. The twins leaned in closer, Fred's hand reaching out to touch the sickly looking scales.

Black eyes watched his movements, a serpent tongue flicking out as if it was tasting the air. Before he could touch the mark Draco halted his hand and shook his head. "Don't touch it."

There was a pause and Draco muttered, "Snake assassin."

Fred cocked his head to the side, sitting back on his heels, his hands still in Draco's. "What do you mean snake assassin, Blondie?"

"Don't think we heard you right." George crouched down next to his brother.

"That's what Malfoy said the incantation he cast upon me was. Anguis sicarius, or snake assassin."

"Well, if it means snake assassin, doesn't..."

"... that also mean that someone is going..."

"... to be the target? It wouldn't make sense if..."

"... it was you."

Fred closed his eyes for a moment, once again glad he had his brother by his side. It had been weird and really rough without George. They had never been apart longer than a few days, and without his twin he felt... strange, wrong, empty. As if he were missing something vital to him.

He looked over at Draco and knew he wouldn't have changed anything if he had the chance. He still wouldn't have gone with George, he would have taken the whip lashings from Filch, he would have stayed with Draco anyway.

"Blondie?" Fred pulled his hands away from Draco when the blonde drew even paler than he already was. Placing his palms on either side of Draco's face, Fred forced the other boy to look at him. "What's wrong?"

"My mother has the other spell. Mors anguis. Death snake."

Shite.

* * *

"When did Fred and George start building their shop if it's already finished? They've been at school and they've been at the house over last summer. There's no way they could have finished it!" Ron threw his hands up and glared at the large building in front of them.

Harry almost snorted at the image in front of them. Unlike the rest of the buildings in Diagon Alley, it was an array of vibrant colors, standing out. The street around them was full of buzzing people. A delighted bark came from his side, making Harry grin and he patted Snuffles on the head.

"Ron, we've been over this. They had the design picked out already, so they had builders construct it as they were in school," Hermione huffed, obviously irritated at having to repeat the same thing _again_ to Ron.

"They've been sending owls in the mail, and once George left it was easy to construct the rest, though everything had been finished except for their flat." Harry snickered and opened the door even though it had a closed sign hanging over the knob.

Entering, he grinned at the sight before him. There were three levels of everything. Joke products and sweets were on the bottom, the explosive enterprise and defense magic was in the middle, while the WonderWitch products were on the top floor.

Snuffles was right by his side and gave another woof in excitement. Hermione entered next with a small frown and then Ron with a scowl. "Why didn't they ever tell me about it?"

"Possibly because you..."

"... never asked us about it."

Raising emerald eyes upward, he grinned at the twins leaning against the railing of the second floor. "Took you lot long enough to get here," the two spoke in unison. "Come on up. There's a door on the second floor that leads to our flat. You know where it is, Harry."

Harry nodded and jogged towards the nearest staircase. "How come you know where it is?"

"I helped design it, after all. They demanded it since I helped them jumpstart all of this."

"No fair," Ron muttered as he stormed up the stairs after Harry.

The black haired boy just chuckled, not minding Ron's little jealously fit. He would have been upset too if Ron had kept something from him, but he had promised the twins to keep it a surprise for their little brother.

As soon as they reached the landing, Harry went to the closest wall and tapped an intricate rhythm to make the wall move and show a stairway wide enough for only two people. Harry jogged up the stairs with Snuffles right on his heels while Ron and Hermione followed at a more sedate pace.

At the top of the stairs, Harry opened the apartment door and entered to find Fred and George sitting on a couch with their heads close together as they muttered about something or another. Notebooks were strewn everywhere, pencils and pens lying on the floor.

"We got here as soon as we could," Harry began before Sirius was in his human form.

He shook himself off and barked out a laugh, "Good to see you two again."

Fred and George grinned over at the group and tossed the books onto the already large pile of texts. "You guys, too," one said.

"How'd you get away from the muggles so quickly this time?" The other twin asked.

"Sirius. I just went long enough to make sure the wards are still up and all that."

"Blimey, why is your apartment on the fourth floor?" Ron muttered as he entered with Hermione close behind him, rolling her eyes.

"We'd rather have our stuff away from people, Ronniekins."

"Where's the brat?"

"Sleeping."

A door banged open and the blonde haired boy stormed in, not even glancing at the group. His hair was disheveled, his eyes were drooping and his clothes were rumpled. He didn't say a word, he just went into another room, rummaged about before entering the main room again carrying food and a drink with him.

"Oi, it's not very Slytherin of you to not notice someone who's -"

"_Silencio_," Draco snapped, his wand out and pointed at Sirius without breaking stride. "I heard you. You make too much ruckus making it impossible to not hear you. Next time, be considerate and attempt at being silent." He entered the room he had exited and the door slammed shut behind him.

There was a harsh sound of someone hitting someone else and Harry looked over to see one of the twins rubbing his head. "Jeez, Georgie, why'd you hit me?"

"You were staring at his arse!"

Fred looked at his brother, "Of course I was. If it was Angelina you would have been looking at hers!"

George sighed and shook his head, "Right. Never mind. What do you think he would do if he caught you?"

"Probably hex me." Shrugging, Fred looked over at Sirius who had his eyes opened wide and his mouth hanging open. "What? I got annoyed waiting for him to decide what he wanted so I kissed him and, surprisingly, he let me."

"Way too much information, Fred!" Ron slammed his hands over his ears while saying, "I can't hear you" over and over again.

* * *

Draco could hear Ron muttering something repeatedly when he opened the door again and marched out, straightening his clothes. He went to sit in one of the armchairs, but Fred snaked out his arm and grabbed the boy, yanking him into his chest. "Good morning, Blondie!"

"It's eight in the evening."

"But you just woke up," George grinned, scooting towards the edge of the couch and away from Draco's glare.

"You two are hellions."

"We know."

Draco rolled his eyes and pointed his wand at Sirius, dropping the silencing charm. "Mutt."

"Brat... Why are you on Fred's lap?"

Draco refrained from rolling his eyes again and said, "I was pulled onto the hellion's lap. Since he is adequately comfortable, I see no reason to move."

The older man sat on the floor, opening and closing his mouth a couple of times before he said, "I am so confused right now."

Harry lowered himself next to his godfather, "I just don't ask."

Ron and Hermione took the two armchairs, nodding.

"So how long have you been sleeping, Draco?" Hermione asked quietly, clearly hesitating before saying Draco's given name.

For a moment, Draco thought to correct her, but decided not to. "On and off for the past week while we waited for your group's arrival."

"Well, it was more like..."

"... he slept all day except for..."

"... a few random hours here and there."

"Why?" Sirius asked, still eyeing Draco and Fred oddly. "This is still strange."

"I'm sure for someone of your minimal mentality it would be," Draco sniffed.

"Hey, Malfoy, watch what you say!"

"You have the same childish mindset as he does, Potter. Don't worry, you two are still on the same level mentally."

Sirius barked out another loud laugh, causing Draco to glare at his cousin. "And what is so amusing?"

"You are. Anyway, why were you sleeping all this time and still look like you were run over by a herd of hippogriffs?"

Draco refused to respond, but Fred's cold, harsh words answered for him, "Because those three idiots wouldn't trust his word so he placed himself in a dire situation that could have turned lethal for him."

Harry rubbed his head, Ron blushed a bright red and Hermione looked down in her lap. Draco didn't want to linger on those thoughts. He spoke up, voice easily heard even though it was quiet, "That hardly matters now. The past is where it belongs and we're here. Let's discuss what we need to and get this conversation over with."

"So... horcruxes?" Harry asked after a lengthy silence.

Draco kept his mouth shut, but Hermione nodded and pulled out a piece of paper. "Yes. The one I know of for sure is the diary. I can't recall if you said what the horcrux you have is, Draco."

"It's Salazar Slytherin's locket."

Fred poked him in the side, "You didn't tell us this."

"Not knowing what the locket represented kept distracting me. The Dark Lord would not have any idle trinket, he is too -"

"Egotistical?"

"Narcissistic?"

"Conceited?"

"Pompous?"

"Self-centered?"

"And oh so snobbish?" The two hellions ended at the same time.

Harry nodded, "I can see that. Not only that, but he is the heir of Slytherin. At least he claimed he was while we were in the chamber."

"So you think he would use other things like that, too?" Sirius asked even while he nodded his head. "I could see that."

"What else would be that important though?"

Draco looked at Ron and raised an eyebrow. "We have a hint, Little Weasley. Salazar Slytherin's locket. Who else was as important as he was in his time?"

"Why must you call me 'Little Weasley'?"

"If I said Weasley I could be referring to the hellions."

"So something of Gryffindor's, Ravenclaw's and Hufflepuff's?"

"Potter, do you really know nothing of the Dark Lord? Do you think he would touch something that belonged to a Gryffindor, let alone the actual man himself?"

"... I suppose not."

"So we can add two more things on the list. Something that belonged to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff."

"The only thing that comes to mind is Hufflepuff's Cup," Hermione murmured, writing it down.

"The lost diadem of Ravenclaw," Sirius muttered. "Her daughter stole it and no one has seen it since."

"Well, just for the heck of it, put in Gryffindor's sword," Harry muttered. "It's of worth and since Voldemort hates Gryffindor, it would be a good one that not many would think of. We are just throwing ideas out there?"

Draco nodded, "Yes we're brainstorming. Ravenclaw's lost diadem? It's been lost for centuries. It would be something the Dark Lord would covet. It doesn't mean that he actually found it."

"What are the other ones?" Ron finally spoke up. "If those are some of the horcruxes, and there's possibly six or seven, how are we going to possibly find them without Voldemort finding out that we know about them?"

"The only way for the Dark Lord to know something has happened to them is if he goes looking for them to check on them or if we destroy them at different intervals. If we get all of them and destroy them at one time, he won't have the opportunity to go after them himself to hide them elsewhere."

"Though the hardest part will be figuring out how to destroy them."

"Wait a bloody minute!" Ron muttered. "We have to figure out what the horcruxes are, where to find them, and how to destroy them too?"

"Well, Harry destroyed the diary with a basilisk's fang."

"With a what?"

"How am I not surprised?"

"That's brilliant!"

"How big was it?"

Draco let his head fall back on Fred's shoulder with a sigh, "So all we need is a basilisk's tooth. And where, pray tell, do we find a basilisk?"

"Wait, screw that part. What did I hear about a basilisk? I thought you told me everything!"

"More like glossed over some things."

"But against a Basilisk? That's awesome! Here I thought your father and I were the trouble making ones, but here you are taking on -"

Forcing himself up and away from Fred, Draco stared down at the group with his shoulders back and his mask fully on. "I see that our conversation on horcruxes is at an end."

Without a backward glance the blonde turned and walked away into his room. He entered his room and shut it softly behind him. Slowly, he threw up some silencing spells so that no one would hear anything inside his room, but he could still hear the talking outside.

"What'd I do?"

He fisted a hand over his heart, his clothing crumpling. The skin above his heart was warmer than anywhere else on his body. He didn't know if it was in his head, or if it was real, but he was always aware of the snake's movements.

The Black Mamba, Malfoy told him. The fastest poisonous snake, huge in length - the adults could reach over three meters - and can raise third of it's body length to enter a tree.

"We were discussing ways to destroy the horcruxes and you weren't listening," Hermione sighed.

"We can't always be serious about things. I wanted to learn about my godson while he was at school, and I don't remember him telling me about a basilisk!"

"That would have been fine if what you expressed was fury or concern, but instead you praise him!"

"But to go against a basilisk and win, Hermione!"

Draco sat on the bed, letting his arms rest on his knees and bowed his head. He just wanted it to end.

"That's not the point, Sirius!"

"I don't think you should enter, Freddie. He might want to be left alone."

"I don't care."

He didn't even bother to look up when the door opened and closed again. He didn't move when Fred sat next to him and draped an arm over him and stayed silent.

"Guys, we should just come back later," Harry muttered. "We can think about it and see if we can come up with other ways to destroy horcruxes and other ideas of what other horcruxes could be."

Fred and Draco stayed where they were with Draco leaning into Fred. When they heard the door to the flat open and close Draco sighed and fell backwards, once again ready for sleep.

"You really are tired," Fred murmured, leaning over and smiling. "Am I staying?"

Draco just reached out, grabbed Fred by the shirt and yanked him down. Not caring that he was still in his regular clothing, or that he wasn't even under the covers, he just snuggled into Fred's chest and sighed. "As I said, you are adequately comfortable."

"I'm good for something, then."

Not liking how Fred said that, Draco leaned back and stared at Fred with a critical eye. Unsure how to word his emotions or thoughts, he just stared at the Weasley for a moment, contemplating on what he should do.

"You don't have to think about it, you know. You can just do what you want."

"I always need to think." But Draco did stop thinking about it and just leaned forward and kissed Fred on the nose before returning back to his previous place laying on Fred's chest.

"You just kissed my nose."

"So I did." Draco carefully turned himself so that Fred couldn't see the blush spreading across his face.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to."

"That's my line!"

"It was acceptable for my use."

"Just go to sleep, Blondie."

"It would be easier if you were silent."

"When is a Weasley twin ever silent?"

Draco looked up when he was sure the blush was gone. "There are plenty of times when you are silent."

Fred grinned. "Sure, but it doesn't happen for very long."

"Perhaps."

"Draco, I want to kiss you again."

"Would you be silent afterwards?"

"Probably not."

Before Draco could counter, Fred covered Draco's lips with his own. Draco sighed, barely parting his lips. Copying his movements, Fred moved his lips against Draco's before pulling away.

"I'll be quiet now."

Still unsure of how he felt, Draco remained quiet. Instead he got comfortable resting on Fred, deciding his feelings were something to think over in the morning. If it wasn't pushed aside by the many issues that he already had to focus on.

* * *

A/N Sorry, I can't remember if Harry told Sirius about the basilisk. In here, he hasn't.

I got the translations off of google and that's what I'm going to use. :)

anguis sicarius - snake assassin

mors anguis - death snake


	47. A Reminder

A/N Blarg, this chapter was difficult to write. After this chapter, most will be equally as hard because, once again, my characters decided to take over and change the course of the story on me. For example: I wrote ch. 49 and it was finished at around 3,000 words, but then a few characters demanded that I 'fix it' and so it changed... a lot. It is now over 6,000 words... Anyway, here's ch. 47!

* * *

Harry backed away from the blonde and crossed his arms over his chest. "What's the purpose of this manual training? I've gone through with it, but it's almost the end of July and we've done nothing to find Voldemort's horcruxes!"

Raising an eyebrow, Draco looked at Harry who was standing in sweatpants and a baggy old shirt that was eating him alive. "If you can't get a shield up in time, what are you going to do?"

"Dodge it, of course," Ron snapped.

"Obviously. You were raised by muggles, Potter, I would have guessed you would have known that. How are you going to dodge if you don't have the strength or the stamina to move out of the way quickly enough? What if someone else is being attacked and you have to chose between yourself and them? You're all Gryffindors, you would give yourself up in a heartbeat."

Harry huffed and looked over at Sirius who just shot him a grin.

"The hellions and the mutt aren't complaining and they're purebloods. I'm a pureblood and I'm _teaching_ you about manual training and not spells."

"Not only that, but if you have higher stamina, then you'll have more powerful spells," Hermione said quietly. The bushy haired girl stood beside the twins, her hair up in a high ponytail and was wringing her hands in front of her.

"Someone has obviously been paying more attention than others." Draco kept his gaze strictly on the girl and not on one of the twins who were standing side by side without shirts on.

The group of seven were out on a field near the Weasley home, but not on their land as Draco wasn't allowed to set foot on it. They've been running a lot with Draco, trying to get their stamina up seeing as they got tired easily. If that was the case, then they would be captured by death eaters quickly. Even the Dark Lord saw the purpose of manual training and he made sure all of his followers trained.

Draco rubbed his forehead, sitting down and crossing his legs on the grass. At least they were getting better at their landscapes. Hermione was doing the best, unsurprisingly. She could hide most things with the two boy's just learning how to do that. It would be at least helpful if the Dark Lord ever jumped into Harry's mind again, though he highly doubted that he would do the same trick twice. Fred plopped down next to him and grinned at Draco when the blonde carefully kept his attention away from the hellion.

"Look, I'm not going to train you unless I have to. I just want to make sure you have the abilities to do what needs to be done. This summer I just want you to build up your magical core as much as possible and to be able to dodge attacks. Another goal for this summer is to figure out where the horcruxes are being hidden."

There was... something nagging at Draco that had been bothering him for days. It started after they had first brainstormed ideas of objects that could possibly be horcruxes. Something tickled at his memory, but he couldn't quite grasp it.

Harry sighed and nodded, "I just wish there's something we can do _now_."

"This is something to do now, Potter. Once we have an idea of where they are then we can begin, but until that happens we don't have much choice.

"Plus it's better than being stuck inside!" Sirius grinned, throwing an arm over his godson. "Besides, the brat's right. The more you work up your physicalness, the stronger your magical core will be."

"Are we repeating everything today?" George asked as he dropped to the ground and splayed out. "If so, I'll continue the trend. If you -"

"That's enough," Draco sighed. "I see that we're finished for the day."

"Oh, would Quirrell have been a horcrux? He had Voldemort's face on the back of his head. It would make sense, yeah?" Harry asked.

"Who? Professor Quirrell from our first year?"

The three nodded and Hermione quickly told the story of the sorcerers stone, the different tasks they had to pass, how Harry met Voldemort and how he beat Quirrell and Voldemort.

Sirius chuckled and said, "You have been up to a lot and you haven't told me half of it. But yes, that does sound like a horcrux being destroyed."

"Why is it that your concern is not for the safety of your godchild, but only what he had not deemed to tell you?" Draco hadn't meant to say that out loud. He really hadn't, but at that moment he could only feel contempt for the man.

Sirius for his part just looked flabbergasted. "What do you mean?"

Draco calmly clasped his hands in his lap and took a deep breath. "When one is told that someone they care about fought a basilisk or faced a horcrux of the Dark Lord, it isn't a feat that one should praise."

When Draco went to continue, Sirius interrupted, "But he lived! Why should I have to think of what _could_ have happened when it doesn't matter? It's in the past, so let it stay in the past."

"When you congratulate someone on an accomplishment or praise them for a deed, that is reinforcing that form of behavior. In essence, you are telling your godson that it is fine to break school rules, put his life in danger, put others' safety before his own and that he only has himself to depend on."

"Now, you can't tell me how to -"

"How to raise him?" Draco laughed bitterly as he stood. "No, I don't suppose I can do that. After all, the way I was raised doesn't leave me with great insight of how one should be raised properly."

"What's got you so tied into knots?" Sirius asked with a frown.

He straightened his rumpled clothes and Draco raised a single eyebrow at his cousin. "I didn't know you cared."

Barking out a laugh, Sirius shook his head. "Should I be?"

"There is no reason for your concern." Draco's voice was quiet as his mind took him back to his mother and the mark that lay across her heart, waiting to strike if Draco ever gave the hint of betraying the Dark Lord. "It is late. I believe that it is time for your supper."

It was usual for the whole troop to go to the Weasley's house and eat food together. Everyone except Draco, of course. He would watch them walk over to the lopsided house. He would never admit to it out loud, but he would follow once they were out of sight, walking until he hit a barrier that made his skin sizzle.

Fred once again snapped, "I'm not going."

Tired of repeating himself on numerous occasions, Draco snapped back. "Go. It's a reminder to your family that you're alive. Go spend time with your family, you might not get as much time with them once the fighting begins. Enjoy and be merry. I don't need you with me every second of the day."

Sirius laughed and wrapped an arm around Fred's shoulders, "Besides, he's probably the safest out of everyone in this blasted war. Spy for the Dark Lord and a spy for the Order. No one would dare attack him because of what he has to offer. Lets go get some food!"

The group, with a grumpy Fred, finally made their way to the tall house and the company that awaited them. Draco stood in the field, waiting. Their laughter echoed back to him and he was once again reminded of how alone he really was. His family would never have that joviality again. He would never have friends to be so carefree with. He would never be part of a group that wanted him for him.

Fred and George, sure, but he would never be a part of their world. He wouldn't be able to be in the same room as Arthur Weasley and not feel that grain of hatred for himself that was embedded in his psyche. He couldn't look at Molly Weasley and not think about the danger he caused for her husband and the danger towards her children. If he failed, people would die and it would be his fault.

The chatter on the breeze finally subsided and whittled away into nothing. He could only hear the rustling of the grass beneath his feet. The sound of birds chirping happily in the sky.

Unable to stop himself, Draco followed after the others. The path was clearly visible, as the six others walked that way for the past two months. The grass was bent in directions and the dirt was peeking through in random splotches.

He came into view of the garden and he wandered around until he could see into the kitchen, but in a position where no one would be able to see him from the kitchen window. Draco sat on the ground, scooting close to the barrier so he could feel the familiar buzz of warning.

Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen holding a spatula and waving it at the twins who managed to snatch a jar and run out. Different people entered and it always amazed Draco to see how she reacted to them. Hermione, Ron and Ginny she greeted with smiles, Harry a hug, Mr. Weasley a kiss and the twins a frown before they pulled a smile from her.

Harry tried numerous times to help, but Mrs. Weasley would shoo him away and have him help Hermione and Ron set the table. Ginny was the only one who seemed to be able to help her mum at all. Mr. Weasley would sneak in for a kiss while snatching some batter on his fingers while his wife was distracted. Fred and George were chased out numerous times as she caught them trying to copy their father in stealing food before it was ready.

Once they were all out of sight from the kitchen window, Draco stayed where he sat for a while. However, eventually, he stood and stared at what he would never have or deserve. He raised a hand and inched it closer to the barrier, barely flinching when it scorched his hand. His fingers wiggled as he brought his palm up to his eyes so he could study the damage.

It was bright red and it reminded him of the time when the back of Fred's hand had been wounded to save Draco the pain. Clenching his fingers into a fist, Draco looked up at the sky, trying to find the answers to his questions. Questions that he had no clue how to ask.

With a sigh, Draco unclenched his hand and once again brought his hand up to the barrier. This time, he didn't bring it back once the shock hit him. He kept it there, gritting his teeth against the pain. When it finally became unbearable, he snatched his hand back to hold against his chest.

The stinging was horrible and it sent shocks of pain lancing through his arm to his chest. After he was able to regulate his breathing, he took a glance down at his ruined palm. He knew that it wouldn't heal correctly since he didn't have the correct healing balm for the burn, causing it to most likely scar.

Draco apparated back to the hellions flat, grateful of the reminder. The reminder that he would never be a part of the bright world that the hellions lived in. The reminder that he was already scarred and weary of living. The reminder that he wouldn't be able to keep Fred in the end because he feared that Fred's family would force him to choose them or Draco. And Draco would never put Fred in that position.

* * *

The noise in the house was as loud as usual. Ron was demanding someone play him in Wizard's Chess - in which case everyone but Harry turned deaf because they didn't want to lose. Sirius was hooting and hollering because he could - in which case people would then shout at him to be quiet. Ginny and Hermione were upstairs talking about girly things.

George was upstairs looking through their room for anything that they missed after moving out. Fred, on the other hand, was standing in the kitchen doorway with a frown as he watched his mother wash the dishes.

He had asked her when he was younger why she didn't use magic to do the dishes. She said it was mindless work; it allowed her the time to think, that she enjoyed it and hoped that Fred would find something like that for himself.

"Fred, why are you frowning so?" His mum's voice shook Fred out of his thoughts and back to what he wanted to know. "You know, the only time I can tell you two apart is when you're thinking. You frown while George mutters incomplete sentences."

Fred chuckled and entered the room. Taking a glance around and seeing that there was no one to overhear anything he said, he grabbed a cloth and began to dry the dishes she had already washed. When he was finished, he had the dish float to its proper place as he started drying something new.

Molly didn't say anything else, staying quiet to let Fred say what he had on his mind as soon as he was ready. It was one of the many things he adored about his mother. She never forced her children into anything that wasn't chores or helping around the house. If they needed her, they knew she was there and she would wait for them to be the one to start the conversation.

The two carried on in silence until the dishes were done. Fred was able to sort his thoughts out as he went through the motions of drying dishes. He was so lost in thought that he didn't realize they were done until his hand hit empty air.

Smiling at her son, Molly took him by the hand and sat him at the table. She busied herself with making hot chocolate for him and tea for herself. Once she was seated beside him, a book floated over to her and she began to drink and read.

The only sound for a while was the light sipping as they drank, the chiming of the clock, the sound of hoarse shouts in other rooms and the rustle of pages turning.

"Mum, what do you know of the feud between our family and the Malfoy's?"

The matriarch looked up, blinking at her son. "Most of it, actually. My father went to the head of the Weasley family and got a journal for me to read. The journal has the accounts of what happened. I had to read it before I was allowed to marry Arthur. He wanted me to know everything that would be expected of me once I entered into a 'blood traitor' family, not that any of us believed that about them."

Fred swirled his cup around and watched the murky brown liquid splash around. "Will you tell me about it?"

"Oh, it's a long story, but I'll try to summarize it to save time. Many centuries ago - six, I believe - the Malfoy family was considered upper class and the Weasley family was middle class.

"Aurora Weasley was betrothed to a Malfoy - Aquila Malfoy, if I remember correctly. Now, those two would spend hours and hours together. They were best friends, and to marry a best friend and not a stranger was good luck for them. The purpose of the arranged marriage was to raise the Weasley's status, setting them in a better light within the community.

"However, Aurora was a young, naive, impressionable and foolish girl who was barely considered an adult. She met a dashing young wizard, Dain, that befriended her. How they met I don't remember, but they met nonetheless and eventually Aurora fell in love with the man.

"He convinced her into bringing him into the Malfoy home, claiming he was a muggle-born and he simply wanted to take back what was stolen from him. The Malfoy's had a reputation even back then of being callous and brutish against those beneath them. She did as he asked, believing that they would only sneak in and back out.

"Now, before the two entered the Malfoy Manor, Dain taught Aurora a spell. He said it was merely a stunning spell that had a quieting effect on those who would stand in her way. It was a new spell at that time and wasn't well known.

"The night they entered, Aurora brought the two of them in safely past the wards. Her love disappeared and she was left alone. No one met her there, and it was a long time before Dain came back empty handed.

"He said that he had gotten lost as he didn't know his way around the manor. He was searching for a man, Aquila, who had taken what he prized most from him and therefore he had to find his rooms.

"Aurora lead him directly to Aquila's quarters. The Malfoy family was quite large, almost as numerous as our own. It's the way of purebloods, if you've noticed. As Aurora lead them deeper into the mansion, they came across Malfoy family members. People that she knew and cared for, yet she did as her love said and cast the new spell on them.

"Over and over, Aurora cast the spell on the Malfoy family. They would drop to the ground, unmoving, unspeaking and soon the pair came upon Aquila. By this point there was only he and his parents unaffected by the new spell. Aurora raised her wand to cast it on Aquila, but Dain stopped her.

"Dain bound Aquila in place and explained what Aurora had done. For the spell he had taught his love was not a stunning curse. It was much more, for the people that fell would never rise again. It was indeed a new spell, a new curse recently invented by one of the darkest wizards of their time. Later years this curse would be widely known and is now considered an unforgivable. The worst of the three and this man convinced Aurora to cast it again and again. Aurora fell to the floor in tears, but the damage was done. She had destroyed the family of her once best friend.

"At this point, Dain dropped his illusion charm and showed his true self: Gregorian Weasley, Aurora's first cousin. He claimed to have loved her since she was a child, but that he would never have been allowed to have her. The Malfoy's had ruined his life when they agreed to the arranged marriage between Aquila and Aurora. Gregorian swore that if couldn't have Aurora, no one would.

"He then weaved a dark curse on the Malfoy blood line. They would only be granted one child, an heir to carry on their legacy, allowing them to barely hold onto the life they once had. That they would never have the happiness of a large and full family ever again.

"Gregorian left, allowing the binding spell around Aquila to drop. No one knows what happened between the two former friends, only that Aurora killed herself in guilt and grief and Aquila's parents declared a blood feud between the two families."

Silence stretched on and Fred stared down at his mug with his eyes narrowed. He had thought it had been the Malfoys who harmed the Weasleys. He would never have guessed it was with the Weasleys that caused the riff, and it hurt that he would instinctively blame Draco's family first and not his own.

"Why did you want to know about it?"

"Do you think it's possible to drop the feud now?"

"Of course, but I don't think the Malfoy's will want to. For starters they are not on our side of the war, dear. And another reason is that, unlike our family, they have a reason to hold onto that feud. I know for a fact that they pass the information from generation to generation."

But Draco had said that no one remembered why the feud was in existence in the first place. He glared down at his drink. If the blonde had kept that information from him to save him from... whatever, Fred was going to have to -

"Dear?"

"Wha?" Fred blinked up at his mother, having forgotten that she was there.

"How'd you find out about the feud?" Fred didn't answer and Molly smoothed his hair, "You don't have to tell me. But please, if you know Lucius' son, Draco, be careful. If he's anything like his father, he'll be cruel and will only use you. I don't want you to be harmed." She kissed his cheek and gave him a small smile. "After this war is over with, and if they weren't actually on the side we believe them to be on, and if they want to drop this feud, we will. But don't go chasing waterfalls."

"Mum," Fred said, setting his full cup on the table. "May I have that journal?"

"Of course, dear." She rose, gave him a kiss on the cheek and disappeared. It didn't take long for her to come back and hand him an old, worn leather bound book. Molly gave him another kiss and left him sitting at the table with the journal in his hands.

Fred ran a hand over it before he stood, hiding the journal under his shirt and held in his waistband. He walked out of the house and apparated to his and George's store. He had a blonde to talk to.

* * *

Draco sat at the table, his spoon swirling in the bowl of cereal. He smiled down at the food that was from muggle London and not from a wizard store. The hellions enjoyed trying new aspects of a muggle's life - whether it be food, clothing or inventions. Some of their ideas and new products stemmed from muggle inventions.

Not that it was bad. It was... different.

But he wasn't hungry. Sighing, Draco pushed the bowl away before lying his head on the wooden table. He took a few breaths to calm himself before he began to berate himself.

Looking through his fringe of hair to the clock on the wall, Draco saw he had a few more hours before the hellions returned so he would be safe to stay out in the kitchen.

He gripped his hair in his right hand - his uninjured one - and reflected on the conversation in the field. He shouldn't have said what he had to Sirius in reference to what he should and shouldn't do as Harry's godfather.

It was true when Draco said that he himself had no idea how a functional family worked. Maybe the way that Sirius treated his godson was how a godfather was expected to behave. Draco hoped that wasn't the case, but it could be true nonetheless.

"Did you know what the catalyst was that started the feud between our families?"

Draco's head shot up, his hand falling into his lap beside his other one. There - with a heavy scowl in place - was Fred. He had a green shirt on over a fresh pair of pants. Looking down at himself, Draco realized he still hadn't taken a shower yet. He customarily bathed as soon as he got back.

"Answer the question, Draco."

Sighing, the blonde nodded, "Yes, I knew how -"

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"There was no need for you to know. It's not as if the feud can end. Aurora and Gregorian Weasley massacred most of the Malfoy family. However, Aquila Malfoy's son went on a rampage and killed many Weasley's before he was caught. My father wouldn't want the feud to end and I doubt your father would either." Draco sighed and stood up, heading towards his room. "I just want the fighting to end. Whether it be this war or this feud between our families. I know I can stop at least one. I never plan on having children. I plan to end the Malfoy family line with me."

"I don't like the sound of that."

Giving a humorless smile over his shoulder, Draco entered his room with Fred right behind him. "Don't be ridiculous. Malfoy's don't take the easy way out. The only way for my life to end is if I perish in the war, for me to be murdered or if I die of natural causes."

A hand forced Draco around to face Fred before he was crushed into a firm chest, "Don't talk about your death."

"Death is inevitable, Fred. Someone we know is going to die. It might be me or it might be George or my mother or your father. It doesn't matter, one of us will most likely die."

"We can pretend no one we know will die from this war," Fred muttered, burying his face in Draco's shoulder.

"We can't do that. It would destroy us holding onto false hope."

Fred just tightened his hold and Draco gave up, letting himself be cradled by Fred. He nuzzled his nose against Fred before he sighed as he laid his cheek against Fred's broad chest. "I won't let you die," Fred vowed quietly.

"You won't be able -"

"Shut it, you prat. If I say you won't die, you won't die."

"So you can command fate now?"

"I don't believe in fate. I'll be there to watch over you while you train everybody else and keep them as safe as you can, just like you've been doing for years."

Draco gave a tiny snort, "It is similar to caring for animals who could very well end up killing themselves by mistake."

"You should have to only worry about yourself and not them."

"You are being ridiculous again. That isn't conceivable, seeing as my position is to keep the others safe. However, it is not only them that I will be keeping an eye on. You and your brother will need to be watched over, too. You two are completely hopeless sometimes."

"Only sometimes! I swear we can duel."

"Right." Finally feeling confined, Draco pushed away from Fred and gave a tired smile. "I have to take a shower and sleep. I have another meeting with the Dark Lord."

"Again? So soon?"

"You know it's a weekly occurrence." Draco turned his back before rolling his eyes and grabbing a few things for his shower, but before he entered a hand grasped his left wrist.

"What's this? What happened?"

Draco looked down at the ground, "It's a reminder." He pulled away and entered the bathroom. He shut the door carefully, quietly. Fred did and said nothing more.

His time in the shower was quick as he was tired and he wanted a good nights rest before he had to face the Dark Lord again, but when he re-entered his room, Fred was sitting on his bed. The other boy was resting against the headboard with his bare feet resting on the mattress. He wore a pair of sweatpants and no shirt.

"Hope you don't mind, I am calling into action more cuddling."

Against his will, a small smile made an appearance on his face.

_The reminder. Remember it. You don't want to make him choose._

The smile slipped off Draco's face and Fred stood up, "Stop thinking. You do that too much. Come here."

Draco padded his way over slowly and let Fred wrap him in another hug before sitting on the bed. "What is this?"

"I don't know," Fred replied easily. "And I don't care to label it. I like what we have and that's what matters." He leaned down and kissed Draco on the nose. "What we have isn't bad. You don't want me to back off, do you?"

Having Fred back away would be the wisest choice, but Draco was hesitant to suggest it. Fred was the only person he clung to, relied on and trusted. Once he was gone, Draco had no inkling how he would survive for he would lose Fred at some point. The Weasley twin was never his to keep in the first place.

Snuggling close, Draco closed his eyes. He knew, and accepted that Fred was going to be gone at some point, but for the moment that hardly mattered to him. Draco could pretend he was happy and let his scarred hand be the only reminder of what he could never have.

* * *

A/N You know... Everytime I try to lighten this story up, it refuses. Draco glares at me and says, "This is anything but light," and then he forces me to write more sad things for him. It's quite depressing, really. *sigh*

Oh, and the story of Aurora, Aquila and Gregorian? Not supposed to have come up yet. Their story wasn't supposed to enter until near the very end of this story. But I hope it's a good reason for why a blood feud was started between the two families.

Last thing is to answer some questions for a review from a guest about the last chapter:

Narcissa may or may not die, I can't tell you without ruining the ending - which has been constantly changing. Silly characters. :p With his father... well... that's something that I can't answer right now because it's... complicated. I was writing a scene with him in the next chapter when I got your message about him. In all honesty, "the greater end" is just to survive with as many people as possible. I'm hoping it ends with many living, but I have no idea what the characters want until it happens. Thank you so much for reviewing and asking/guessing what's going to happen.

Thank you everyone for your reviews! They always make my day when I read them. :D

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! (You know, I don't even know if 'enjoy' is the right word to use...)

Here ends this extremely long announcement... XD


	48. NO!

A/N This was going to be another short chapter, but it didn't want to stay short... The end of summer is coming, I swear! They board the train at the very end of the 50th chapter. :) I have not been looking forward to posting this chapter because I have no idea how you all will take it. .. So here you guys go, chapter 48.

* * *

"Seriously?"

"Well, I am Sirius."

"Stop with the jokes, Sirius! I thought you said you had an idea about Pettigrew. How are you supposed to find him and bring him to the ministry?"

"Easy. The brat can help."

"What could he do?"

"He gets called to the Dark Lord, doesn't he?"

"Yes. And the point, Sirius?"

"He could put a tracking spell on Peter and then once he's away from Voldemort, I'll snatch him away. Easy. He won't be expecting it!"

"Don't you think that he'll be the first one Voldemort will suspect?"

"Why?"

"Acting as a double spy, he'd be the first one to be interrogated. Wouldn't he?"

"Possibly... but it's a good idea. I'll ask anyway and see if he'll do it."

* * *

Draco stared at Sirius for a moment. The idiot still had the shaggy black hair, the tired gray eyes and he still hadn't managed to get rid of the haggard look. "You must be joking. That is your brilliant idea on how to bring Pettigrew to justice? The plan you've been perfecting for a while now?"

He, Sirius and Harry were in the middle of the twin's living room. Fred and George were downstairs working like normal while Draco meditated and tried to figure out why one of the supposed horcruxes sounded familiar. However, he had been interrupted by a giant dog and a boy with glasses who was almost sixteen.

"Uh... yeah." Sirius ruffled his own hair with a hand, looking sheepish.

"You wish for me to endanger my life in order for you to exact your revenge."

"When you put it like that..."

"I hope you never have children, Mutt," Draco sighed as he continued to sit cross legged on the floor.

Grinning, Sirius sat in front of Draco, "Remmy says the same thing. He's coming, by the way, before the month is over."

"Are the hellions aware of this?"

"Not yet, but we were planning on telling them after they finished work. We were planning on just going to the Weasley's, but he's adamant about meeting you."

Draco's back stiffened and his eyes hardened, "How does he even know I'm here? We agreed to keep the information of my whereabouts to ourselves."

"Remus can get pretty much anything out of Sirius, I found out." Harry laughed, plopping down next to his godfather. When Draco didn't relax, Harry continued, "Don't worry, Dumbledore doesn't know anything. We know why you don't want him involved and he won't be unless it's necessary."

Sirius groaned and dropped to his back on the floor, "I just want this over with. I don't want to be locked up everyday in either Padfoot's form or a house. I want to go out and buy stuff and not have to have Remmy do it for me. It's annoying."

"We all do what we must; want has nothing to with it, Mutt." Draco stood and tilted his head down at the man sprawled on the floor. "You might want to warn the hellions that their house will have a werewolf added into the mix."

* * *

"You finally got it!"

Fred stood up and grinned at his brother, "It took forever, but I did!" The two high fived. They were in the basement of their building, working on experiments and other, more important, things. "Now he can't say no!"

"Freddie, he would say no just because he can. He's done it before."

"I'll wear him down. He'll agree."

"Sure Freddie, keep thinking that." George ducked and ran for the stairs when Fred aimed a slap at his brother. "I could just sneak in and not give him a choice."

Jogging after his twin, Fred went around some desks covered with papers and random items. Once at the stairs he went up to the door that would lead them to the backroom of their store. Before Fred could reach him, George pushed the door open and raced into the store.

Fred laughed and took off after his brother. He twined his way through the back room that was filled with stock. He made his way into the actual store that held people even in the early morning. He greeted them as he went, laughing and smiling. He helped them find what they were looking for, sending them in a roundabout route so they could see what other merchandise was available in the store.

As soon as he helped the last customer he saw he was free to chase George again; Fred hurried up the stairs until he got to the second floor and literally ran into his brother. The two tumbled to the floor, cackling as they went. Fred looked up, untangling himself from George and saw Harry standing a short distance away from them with Padfoot beside him.

Padfoot was sitting with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. The big dog let out a large huff of breath which Fred took for laughter. Harry grinned at the two and reached down to try to help the two up.

Without looking at each other, both Fred and George pulled the other boy down on the ground as well. Harry yelped as he fell, flailing his arms around before he crashed into the two.

"Well, young Mr. Potter, what..."

"...brings you here today with..."

"... your loyal companion?"

Harry laughed as he sat back up, using George's head and Fred's shoulder to steady himself. "Well, we just wanted to warn you about something. Remus wanted to stop by and see how everything is going."

"Everything?" Fred asked, his eyes quickly running to the ceiling before landing on Harry and standing up. When Harry nodded, Fred glowered. "He has nothing to do with this."

"He's like a second godfather and he -"

"He has nothing to do with Pup," Fred growled, crossing his arms. "He -"

"We should have this discussion elsewhere. Actually," George said as he saw more and more people entering. "You guys go to the backroom. Lee, Angelina and I can handle the store."

Fred gave a very sharp nod and turned on his heel, storming down the stairs. He passed Lee with a barely there wave and once again entered the back room. He went to the far wall and stood with his back against it.

Harry and Padfoot entered at a slower pace. Once the two were inside the room, Fred pulled his wand out and closed the door, locked it and put silencing barriers on it. The moment he was done, Padfoot changed into Sirius.

"Why do you have a problem with Remmy?"

"I don't. I have a problem with you two assuming it'd be fine to bring him into this without talking to any of us."

"Well, he knew -"

"He _knew?_" Fred towered over Sirius. "You _told_ him about all of this?"

"Sirius can't seem to stop himself," Harry said, not looking at Fred when the glare was turned towards him. "Remus asked why Sirius and I haven't been around so much."

"And you couldn't tell him you were spending quality godson and godfather time?"

"Sirius can't lie to Remus."

"Then Sirius shouldn't have become involved with any of this."

"Now wait a minute! I -"

"Stop!" Fred rubbed his head as he flexed his hand over and over again at his side. He kept repeating, _must not curse them, must not curse them_ over and over again in his mind. "The more people who know what Draco's doing, the more danger he's in."

"We're all in danger, Fred," Harry muttered quietly, scuffing his feet against the ground. "Malfoy knows that as well as any of us."

"Not to the same extent as Draco is, Harry. Out of everyone involved in this bloody war, he's in the most precarious position. If any of us make even the smallest of mistakes, its his life."

"We all know that."

"But do you take it seriously?" Fred slammed his fist into the wall behind him, making the smaller boy jump. "Merlin, Blondie was right about you and the other two. You take nothing else into consideration, even after you know and seen where he's coming from."

"You're just being overprotective of the Brat," Sirius stated. He continued on when Fred went to interrupt him. "He's my cousin. He has Black and Malfoy blood in him. He knows what needs to be done so he'll see it through."

"That's if everything is favorable! The more people we keep adding into this mess will make it more dangerous."

"It's a risk we have to take," Harry mumbled, still not looking up.

"No, it's not a risk we have to take. It's a risk we're forced to take because neither of you know when to tell someone no. Except you, Harry. You say no and act on your own without thinking of the consequences it may cause to others." Fred took a deep breath, but he knew that the two were set and he'd have to accept it.

"That isn't -"

"I'm done." Fred marched forward, past the two and would have kept going except Sirius grabbed his arm to hold him still. "You better release me, Black, before I do something that I might regret."

"Remmy w-"

"He's coming, but know that I'd rather toss you out on your ass while you're still in human form in front of dementors than let anyone else know about what Draco is doing for us all."

Finally released, Fred stalked out into the store. He had no desire to work. He would rather go up and cuddle with the blonde Slytherin. But he knew he would say and do something that would anger Draco, then Draco would say something to piss Fred off and then he'd be angier because Draco would say that it was too late to change anything so he'd have to deal with it.

Just thinking about it made Fred angry. The best option was to work. He immersed himself in what he was doing. A fake smile was plastered on his face and no one but George seemed to notice.

* * *

"No." Harry paused outside of Draco's room, wondering why the blonde would be talking to himself. "This changes nothing. You'll be staying here and that's that. Not only that, but Eira might eat you." Waiting to see if anything else was said, Harry fidgeted from side to side when he heard Draco say, "I know you're there, Potter. Stop eavesdropping and come in."

Blushing, Harry did as he was told and he entered. Draco was sitting cross legged on his bed. He wore the usual dark pants with a light blue tailored shirt. His blonde hair was hanging loosely around his face, but the other boy wore a scowl that was directed at the auburn haired Weasley on the floor. Taking a guess, Harry assumed it was Fred.

"What do you want, Potter?"

Harry held up an envelope. "It's your letter from Hogwarts. I saw the bird trying to enter the window, but it couldn't so it kept pecking at it. No one opened it so I took pity on the bird, yelled at it to come down and it surprisingly gave me the letter."

Draco held out his hand and Harry walked over to hand the envelope to him. The other boy didn't bother to read it, instead placing it on the bed beside him. He raised an eyebrow, "Well, Potter? It's Saturday and we don't meet for another three hours to go running, what do you want?"

"Um... Remus will be here shortly."

He noticed the way the other two stiffened, but Draco nodded his head regally. "I almost forgot that today is the twenty-first of August." The boy stood and walked barefoot over to the door and Harry blinked stupidly when he realized that Draco's pants were rolled up to his calves.

Why would he do that? Shrugging, he went to follow Draco out of the room, not wanting to be left alone with Fred.

"Harry."

Shite. Considering to run for a moment, Harry turned back around to face Fred who had an impassive look. "Yeah?"

"If anything should happen to him, I'm going to blame you."

Double shite. "Uhh..."

"You can run away now."

Fred scared him, there was no question about it. It wasn't even his fault! Why couldn't Fred have said that to _Sirius_? Huffing, Harry bolted into the living room and sat on the floor with his arms crossed and his back against the couch. He saw Draco standing in the doorway to the kitchen, but if Harry went to the door of the flat, the blonde would have been out of sight.

He was playing with the fringe of his pants before there was a knock. He heard a shout of, "Oi, why's it locked?"

Confused, Harry looked over at the room he exited and found Fred leaning against the door glaring at the entrance. "Because I want it to be." Fred shot a glance over Harry's head, but before Harry could look at Draco the Weasley sighed and unlocked the door.

Sirius barged in with Remus right behind him shaking his head and George who was grinning and saying, "I told you he wouldn't just let you in."

Harry jumped to his feet and ran to Remus, enfolding him in a hug. "It's good to see you again, Remus."

The tired man smiled, "I was only gone about a month. There was nothing to fret over."

"You were at the werewolves' camp, Remus!"

"Tell me, was there a purpose to coming here besides a reunion?" Draco's voice had Harry looking over at Draco who had absolutely no emotion on his face. When Harry looked down, he blinked a couple of times when he saw that the other boy wore shoes and his pants were pressed neatly into place.

Remus released Harry and faced Draco, clasping his hands in front of him. "I wish to speak with you."

"So you barge into our home without invitation."

"Freddie?"

"What? It's true! We gave him no invite and he just comes and demands to talk to Draco!"

Remus blinked a couple of times before frowning. "Sirius, I thought you said it was alright."

"Sirius," Fred's voice was low and Harry quickly backed into a wall so he would be out of sight as much as he possibly could. Sirius, for his part, changed into Padfoot and raced behind Draco where he must have presumed he would be safe.

"I see that I was misinformed. I should have realized this is just another example of Sirius acting rashly. Perhaps we can meet again at another time that's more convenient?"

"I think that would be a good idea."

"Nonsense." Every head turned to Draco.

"What'd we miss?" Ron barged in, the door banging against the wall. Hermione followed at a more sedate pace and gave a smile to Remus.

"What do you mean, Blondie?" Fred asked.

"The werewolf is already here. It is a conversation that cannot be disregarded and will eventually occur. This is an opportune time. Ask your questions so you can leave."

Remus hmmed before stating, "There is only one question that requires clarification. In your third year, you followed Harry to a private lesson. What was your purpose and is it still the same?"

Draco raised his chin just a bit before he smirked, "I wondered why you happened to glance in my direction. My purpose is still the same. I need Potter to live so he can defeat the Dark Lord. I will keep him alive long enough to succeed."

Silence dragged on before Remus smiled and nodded, "That's all I need to know. Shall I leave Sirius as an apology for troubling you and entering your home uninvited?" He gave a short chuckle before adding, "Perhaps we can meet again."

There was a yelp before Padfoot fled from his presumed safe position behind Draco until he was behind Remus and the closest one to the door. The rugged man laughed and left with Padfoot leading the way, Remus' voice carrying back to the teens, "We'll meet you at the Burrow."

"That's it?"

George gave Fred a pat on the shoulder, "I told you that you got worked up for nothing."

"I don't care. I had a good reason." With that Fred turned on his heel, entered his room that he shared with his twin and slammed the door behind him.

Sighing in relief, Harry waved at George and gave a nod to Draco before following after the two older wizards, anxious to get to the Burrow.

* * *

"Blondie, there's only a week until the train leaves for Hogwarts," George pointed out.

"I am aware. However, this is the time to act." Draco was sitting in the middle of the floor in the twin's flat. "I refuse to depend on anyone financially again. No one in my family will be expecting me to go get my money."

"Yeah, but what if you get caught?"

Draco raised an eyebrow at Fred, "I'll be tortured. To all but the Dark Lord, my mother, and Bellatrix I have defected. I believe my father has no idea to the truth as well. According to the Dark Lord, the less people who know that I haven't defected the more useful I am to him."

"That isn't helping your point, Blondie."

"I am going. You will not stop me. However, you two will be coming with me."

"We are?"

Nodding, Draco stood and brushed off his clothing. "Yes. George will be keeping watch while Fred will 'cover me' as I am retrieving my savings."

Apparently appeased because he was going, Fred sighed, "Fine. Where is it and how long will it take?"

"It's under strong family wards. It will take fifteen minutes at the least. There is not a high probability of anyone but my parents finding me. I will also be able to bring down the wards for a few moments for us to get past and not be caught. The only reason that you two can come is that it is not on our land, but somewhere near our manor."

"You're still keyed into the wards?"

"My mother and father control the wards and who is keyed into them. Since at least my mother knows that I have not really defected, she will make sure that I will be able to pass in and out of the mansion easily if I ever need anything."

"Then why haven't you?"

"The Dark Lord is at the manor. The probability of sneaking into the manor and out safely may be plausible the first time, but the chances get more dire with each attempt. That is why I have waited until now. I doubt anyone will believe I will wait this long. Many would think the smarter thing to do is to go at this time, but they know that so they'll believe I would have tried sooner."

"Um... Wouldn't they know that you know they know?" George frowned. "That sentence is just too confusing."

Chuckling, Draco nodded. "Perhaps. However, the smartest decision will be to not go. So the probability of there being guards is low."

"Draco," Fred walked over to the shorter boy and placed a hand over his mouth. "Shut up. I don't think this is the best idea."

The blonde raised an eyebrow and smirked against Fred's palm.

"You would go even if I said not to."

Even though it wasn't a question Draco nodded his head. When Fred didn't lift his hand, Draco rolled his eyes. George laughed and walked forward, pulling Draco away and draping an arm over the shorter boy's shoulders. "So, when are we leaving?"

Not answering, Draco crooked a finger at Fred. When Fred drew nearer, the blonde grabbed Fred and twisted, apparating them away.

George's grip on his shoulder tightened as they were sucked into the tube while Draco held onto Fred's forearm with a firm grasp. Draco landed easily on his feet, but when Fred and George stumbled to the ground they dragged him with them.

"Well, hi there." George grinned up at Draco who was glaring at him from his spot on George's chest. "I'm not gonna kiss you."

"I assure you, I don't want you to."

"My poor heart!"

"Oi!"

Both Draco and George looked over at Fred who was sprawled out next to them. Draco smirked and George chuckled, wrapping an arm around Draco's waist. "I might have to steal Blondie from you, Freddie."

Fred sat up, grabbed Draco and yanked him into his lap with a smile, "Nope."

"If you two are quite done, I would prefer not to be out in the open for too long a period." Draco stood up and helped Fred to stand while George clambered to his feet.

"Where we going, Blondie?"

He waved in front of him to what appeared to be a rotten, worn down cabin. He dragged the two forward and stepped through the wards and the cabin turned into a small home. Releasing the hellions, Draco hurried inside with the two following close behind him.

Once they entered, the three had to stop because the interior of the house swirled around. Colors wizzed and melted together, the sound of rushing wind blew around them and the smell of fresh air surrounded the three teens.

It finally stopped moving which left them on a small platform with six different paths. Draco raised an eyebrow at the other two gobsmacked faces. "Let us continue." Draco stepped onto the fifth path, his hands resting in his pockets. The other two quickly launched themselves after him.

As the kept going, there were passageways that branched off the path they were on. Draco took the third corridor, then the eighth, then the thirteenth before pausing at the dead end.

"Please, Blondie. Please tell us..."

"... that you aren't lost."

"Don't be absurd. I am not lost."

"Blondie, we're in front..."

"... of a dead end."

"And you call yourselves wizards." He gave them a smirk when the two grinned back at him cheekily. Rolling his eyes, Draco drew his wand and gently sliced his finger open. Using his blood, Draco drew an intricate design. Finished, he placed his palm on over it and pushed.

The bricks didn't move. Instead, his arm seemed to be sucked inside the wall. Once his elbow reached the wall, he turned his arm clockwise and pulled back - as if opening a door - and the wall obeyed. Before them was a small archway that lead into a room.

A cocky grin overcame his features as he inclined his head, dropping his arm to his side. "After you two."

George laughed with a small bow before entering, Fred placed a hand on his heart and pretended to swoon. With another roll of his eyes, Draco pushed him inside, entered and closed the door behind them.

"There is only one entrance, George stand guard here. The room I need is through that door there." Draco pointed at a wooden door across the small room furnished simply with a couch and fireplace. "I will enter that room alone as I am the only one of us three with Malfoy blood. Fred stands guard there." The two boys crossed the room, but before Draco entered he gave Fred a last glance. "I'll be back shortly."

Without another word, Draco crossed the threshold. As soon as he entered, the door closed behind him without any direction from him. The room was completely empty with one exception; a painting was centered against the wall directly in front of him. Moving quickly, Draco went immediately to the grotesque picture and once again cut his finger to make himself bleed.

The painting was horrid. It was a landscape of skulls scattered over a bloody field. A river of limbs stretched from one end of the painting to the other. The sky was black, devoid of any stars or moon.

He placed his finger on a skull and let his blood join the painting. The droplet seemed to trail down the head, down the nose, across the cheek bone before dripping down onto the grass seeped with blood.

The moment the drop joined the blood covering the field, the painting blurred before disappearing. Where the painting had been was a large safe that held his money. He pulled out his pouch and grabbed handful after handful of galleons. Once it was full to the brim, he closed his pouch. As if it knew he was finished, the painting came back into existence.

Turning his back to it immediately, Draco jogged over to the door and opened it.

The twins were knocked out. George was curled in a ball, his leg twisted at an odd angle. Fred was sprawled out, blood oozing from his head. Lucius stood in front of them with a sneer in place and his wand out.

"What are filthy blood traitors doing here?!"

Not giving himself time to think, Draco pulled his wand and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

His father's wand soared from the older man's hand and into his son's. Lucius turned slowly, his face seemed completely deranged. His face not his own, but his mask's.

Draco pocketed his fathers wand and held his own out in front of him. "Father."

Casting his eyes around the room, he looked for a way around his father. "What are you doing on my property, boy?"

Understanding hit him quickly and without mercy. His back straightened and his own mask fell over Draco. "Removing my money, of course. I see you heard from the Dark Lord that I defected."

"You three will be a lovely gift for him, don't you think?" Lucius pulled his spare wand out and levelled it at his son. "Come in quietly, Draco. Or I'll kill you myself."

"Do you not have orders from the Dark Lord to take me alive?"

"There are always... accidents." Lucius's grin turned feral just as the door banged open and Narcissa stood in the doorway, her hair askew and her breaths coming out in gasps. "What are you doing here, Narcissa? I told you to stay in the house."

"How did you know he was here?"

Lucius cackled, "The Dark Lord gave him a potion that tracks him whenever he apparates. Pure genius. He sent me to collect your son. In the meantime, I'll just kill these two."

When Lucius pointed his wand at Fred, Draco shouted the curse his godfather taught him, "_Sectumsempra_!"

Lucius fell to his knees as cuts wound their way across his chest. He gurgled as he fell to his back. However, Lucius acted quickly and had his wand and pointing at his own chest, muttering "_Vulnera Sanentur" _a few times.

Not caring, Draco hurtled to the two hellions to rennervate them and heal Fred's head wound to the best of his ability. He had about two minutes since his father knew the spell to heal himself, but it was all he needed. Fred would help his brother, freeing Draco to deal with his father.

He cast a look at his mother who was ashen and clutched her robes in her hands, clearly unable to decide what to do.

George grunted as his brother helped him to his feet, but a groan from Lucius had Draco turning to look at his father as Lucius stood.

"You should have killed me when you had the chance, Draco." The man's eyes were wild, glittering with hate. His mouth was set in a hard line and his hair seeming to be tangled in thick lumps.

In that moment, Draco didn't know what he was going to do.

His father shouted out a curse, causing Draco to roll in order to dodge it. There was a flash of blue that came from another part of the room and Draco turned to see Fred glaring at the blonde's father, his wand drawn.

Narcissa, looking defeated, pulled her own wand out at Fred. Draco understood, she had to keep up the charade, but to what end? He dodged another curse as his mother and Fred dueled. She sent him mild hexes and not the usual curses in her massive repertoire.

Concentrating on the task at hand, he saw George slowly inch his way along the wall and out the door, obviously not wanting to get in the way. Draco dived forward and narrowly missed the burst of green that flew towards him.

Draco only sent stunning spells, hoping one would hit Lucius. He didn't want to do anything drastic while he pretended that his father hadn't tried to kill him. He was panting by that time, dodging left and right, throwing up shields around himself and Fred if a curse got too close to the auburn haired boy.

His strength was dwindling, he knew it and so did his father. Draco had never been able to defeat his father. Not once.

Lucius paused before grinning, pointing his wand at Fred. "Try blocking this, boy."

Eyes widening, he knew what his father meant to do. Fred was backed into a corner by his mother without any room for escape. Thinking quickly and hating himself for his response, Draco pointed his wand at the wall behind his father and yelled, _"Bombarda!_"

The wall crumbled. Lucius looked up at the last second, his mouth opening in surprise as the rocks and bricks landed on top of him, giving him no time to protect himself. Keeping his mask firmly in place, Draco tramped down any emotion. They had to get out of there.

Narcissa was frozen in shock. Her wand still pointed at Fred, but her body was turned towards the pile of rubble. Her body began to shake and her hand trembled. She seemed to forget everything around her. Her wand fell from her limp fingers as she flew to the wreckage and began to tear the rocks away with her bare hands, crying out, "Lucius! Lucius!"

The boys didn't have time to delay. Draco grabbed Fred and raced out, trying to get as far away from those wretched cries as he could. Her screams, her sobbing, her ragged breath.

George was leaning against the wall, eyes wide with confusion. Without stopping, Draco cast a weightless charm and Fred scooped him up.

"NO!"

Her heartbroken wail echoed around him and Draco could feel himself start to tremble. He could feel himself starting to crack, but he had to get them away. He had to get them far away. Draco lead the way quickly, but his vision blurred.

They raced out of the house, Draco reached for the two as they crossed the wards and he apparated them away. The squeeze of the apparition made him queasier than he already was. The moment they landed in the flat, he fell to his knees and rid himself of all the contents that had been in his stomach.

The bile should have tasted disgusting, but he couldn't taste anything. His eyes were blind as the tears finally rolled down his cheeks unbidden. His ears still rang with his mother's screaming sobs.

His mind went into overload and he just fell backwards, his thoughts going blessedly dark.

* * *

A/N So... Lucius is killed... by his son... yeah... Not sure what to add here... I really didn't want to kill him... I hope you guys aren't too mad with this.


	49. Distractions

A/N Ummm... hey everyone. Sorry for the longer than normal wait. I'm at the end of the semester so everything is hectic right now. Yay finals... I'm updating now even though I haven't finished ch 51 yet. The chapters are now becoming harder than normal to write, probably because it's nearing the end - there's going to be more than ten, maybe more than twenty chapters... I have no idea... but I know it's coming. :)

When I had first written this chapter, it was only about 3,000 words long. Then some things came up and some characters demanded that I do certain things and the word count kept going higher and higher. So here you guys go, an extremely long chapter - at least extremely long compared to my other chapters. :)

* * *

Draco was sitting in the shower. The water pounded down harshly from the showerhead. The temperature was scorching. His skin was bright red. His own tears mixed with the fat drops of water from his shower. His knees were pressed against his chest. His arms were wrapped around his legs. His forehead pressed against his knee caps as he sobbed.

Even though the temperature was hot, his body trembled and shook. Draco rubbed his skin raw to rid himself of the blood of his father that didn't exist. He scratched his scalp until it bled to rid him of the memory of the look on his father's face when he realized what Draco had done. He tore at his ears leaving red welts on his pale skin to stop his mother's cries for a husband who wouldn't be coming home. No matter how hard he had tried to rub, scratch or tear at his body the memory of what happened wouldn't leave him be.

He could see his father's crazy smile. He could see his father raising his wand with the killing curse on the man's lip as he aimed for Fred. He could feel his heartbeat stop as it had at that moment. He could feel his emotions as he thought, _"Not him. Not him."_ He could remember throwing out his hand with the shout of his spell. He could see the wall crumbling and the surprised look on his father's face; he could see his father, not the mask that had taken hold. Then his father was buried. But he could see his mother. He could hear her shouts over and over again. They haunted him as she cried out in denial.

His father was dead. He killed his father. It was his fault.

He gripped his hair as his sobs refused to relent. No matter how many tears he shed, more kept coming. His stomach clenched and he constantly felt sick. He rocked himself back and forth, back and forth.

He killed his father. He killed his father. He killed his father.

How was he supposed to live with that? How was he supposed to survive the guilt? How was he supposed to forgive himself when all he could hear was his mother's screams?

It was all his fault. He hadn't needed to go. He hadn't needed the money. He could have depended on the hellions. But he wanted to be in control of something.

How he wished he had jumped off the Astronomy Tower his second year. His father would still be alive. Harry - though most likely Hermione - probably would have figured out the horcruxes or the old man would have told him eventually. He was just a pawn in the grand scheme. He wasn't necessary. He knew that - before anyone else died because of him - he had to leave.

The water cut off, but Draco refused to move. His drenched, naked body began to shake in the humid room. Yet without the scalding water on, his body felt frigid.

A towel wrapped itself around him, but he still didn't move. He didn't care who was there. All he wanted was to be left alone.

He killed his father.

Tears continued falling down his cheeks as something warm rushed over him. It made him light, but it did nothing to make him feel differently. Someone bent down and picked him up. Draco struggled weakly before he just gave up.

His eyes were still squeezed shut as he was put on the bed. Seconds passed before he felt the softness of his pajama bottoms and the towel disappearing. He finally opened his eyes to look at the person standing over him.

Fred.

He killed his father to save Fred.

He saved Fred by killing his father.

His father was dead because Draco broke the most important rule that had been ingrained into him since birth.

Family apparently wasn't everything.

Unable to keep looking at the other boy, Draco curled into a ball with his back to Fred. More tears fell and he could feel Fred run his fingers through Draco's drenched hair. He wanted to push the hand away, but he just whimpered and curled tighter into himself. He didn't want to be petted, but just couldn't find the strength to move away.

Overwhelmed by his emotions, Draco transformed into Pup. In his animagus form, his despair decreased slightly and his human mind marginally retreated. The small animal took comfort in the nearest thing he could.

Pup crawled his way onto Fred's lap, a high pitch cry leaving his tiny mouth. His ears were completely flat and his tail dragged behind him. He curled into a tight ball, his fluffy tail slowly wrapping around his body.

Another pitiful cry left Pup. His diminutive body shook. He flinched the first time Fred trailed a finger down his head. The second time wasn't so bad.

The Fennec Fox closed his eyes and fell asleep, hoping everything would just end.

* * *

Pup hadn't changed his form for the past five days. He ate nothing and drank when Fred forced him to. The tiny animal constantly stayed with Fred. When the teen had to go to work, Pup was curled up on his head with the sticking charm on him so he wouldn't fall off. When they were in the apartment, Pup trotted behind him or just laid on his lap.

He was almost always sleeping. He could feel the despair coming from the boy who shared his body, but Pup didn't understand what caused the depth of it. Instead, he tried to make the days go by slowly so that the boy could mourn.

Pup sighed heavily, his breath making the hair in front of him move. Fred was heading back into the loud building, doing whatever it was that he did. Pup could hear the loud squeals coming from the store and his body tensed in agitation. When everything became quiet Pup was able to relax again, thankful for the thing called magic.

However, before Fred could leave the stairwell from his flat above the store, Pup felt the magic in him stir and knew the boy was coming. He gave a yip, causing Fred to reach up and remove the fox from his head. He just continued to hold onto Pup so the tiny animal nipped his hand and jumped to the floor. When he landed, Draco was there.

The blonde was exhausted. His shoulders were slumped, his hair everywhere, his clothes crumpled and his eyes bloodshot with bags underneath. He turned empty eyes towards Fred, but he said nothing. Instead he slowly climbed back up the stairs towards the flat.

He didn't want to see the store again. He didn't want to be near anyone. He didn't want anything but to be alone.

"Draco! Wait!"

Turning, Draco blinked at Fred before shaking his head. He pointed at the door that lead to the store. Not giving Fred another glance, the boy made his way back up staircase and slowly made his way into his room.

Collapsing on the mattress, Draco breathed deeply into the quilts. Before he had any time to think or fall asleep, the door to the flat banged open. Groaning, Draco enfolded his head with his arms and hoped the intruders wouldn't enter his room. Only a group of people ever entered in that manner.

"Oi, Malfoy! We know you're not in Pup form! We need to talk to you!"

"Honestly, Ronald. Draco, we had an idea on how to destroy the horcruxes. Sirius thinks it might work, but we wanted a second opinion."

"Brat, where are you? Harry has to tell you what he did a few days ago!" There was a pounding on his door before it was yanked open.

Draco refused to move for a second. He stayed on his stomach. It took longer than he anticipated obtaining the strength to sit up. Carefully pushing himself upwards, Draco sat before he turned, his legs crossing in front of him.

He knew he looked a mess, but he hardly cared. What surprised him was when Sirius strode forward, knelt on the floor and asked, "What happened?" with sincerity dripping from his voice.

There wasn't any way for him to answer. He couldn't think of anything. His eyes, which had widened in shock, dropped to his lap. His fingers clenched onto his pant legs as he tried to ruthlessly reign in his emotions.

"What the hell are you doing in here?"

Draco's head popped up at Fred's words. He was standing behind the trio who were barely through Draco's door. The three of them whipped around and stammered out an apology to the infuriated Weasley, but Sirius said, "George said to head up and do research. We saw you come down without Pup so we figured we could talk to Draco."

Draco forced himself to stand. Sirius stood next to him. For a moment, Draco just stayed put, but a small, pained smile peeked through. He tried to speak, but his throat tightened choking the words back. Draco settled for giving Sirius a nod and hoped that was enough.

Apparently Sirius understood because he gave his own nod. "Alright, then let's go hang out at the Burrow."

Draco shook his head and had to grab Sirius' arm to keep him from bounding away. When the older man looked down at him, Draco gestured to Harry. Distracting himself seemed to be the best option at that moment.

"Or we'll talk in the living room." Sirius lead the way to the room that was just mentioned as soon as Draco released his hold on the other wizard. The golden trio followed quickly, leaving Fred at the doorway and Draco standing by his bed.

Fred walked over and held Draco's face between his hands, his thumbs gently pressing into the other boys cheeks. Draco flinched and tried to pull away, but Fred shook his head and stayed firm. "No, Draco. Don't run away again. I was there even if I didn't see it, and maybe I don't understand how you feel, but you did what you had to do. That I'm sure of." His voice was low, causing Draco to squeeze his eyes shut to stop the tears from falling.

"Not now," Draco finally croaked out. He couldn't say anything more. The blonde just knew he couldn't talk about it at that moment. Fred sighed before he pecked Draco on the nose, a self deprecating smile in place when Draco flinched a little again.

"Alright, lets go see what the others want."

Draco nodded and let Fred lead the way into the living room. Once there, Draco saw that Hermione sat on one armchair with Ron on one armrest and Harry on the other. Sirius sat on the floor in front of Harry.

Without a word or a glance, Fred sat down, his shoulders tense. The younger teen knew he could sit either on the armchair and away from the twin or on the couch next to the other boy. Draco knew he should have sat on the armchair, but he didn't want to. It wouldn't be long until he had to go back to Hogwarts and leave Fred behind. It would be easier to separate if he just did it now.

Yet he felt his feet take him over to Fred. He sat without looking over at the twin, but he could feel Fred relax seconds before he focused all of his attention on the people in front of him.

"Are you sure you're ok, Draco?" Hermione asked quietly.

Draco didn't reply. He couldn't reply. Instead he kept his eyes on Sirius, hoping he would move the conversation away from him and towards the topic they came for.

"Harry, you go first. Tell him what you were up to."

Hermione cast a look towards Ron, confusion and something else that Draco couldn't discern etched on her face. He supposed she didn't want him to see it, but if so she should have known that he was used to paying attention. His father had…

Blue-gray eyes slowly shifted over to the wall. It was rather plain. It hadn't been gold or ruby as he had first thought it would be. It was an ocean green color that was anything but smooth. There were splotches of blue plastered over it.

His father would have hated it.

His hand gripping the seam of his pants, Draco had to clench his jaw and order himself to breathe calmly. It wasn't the time to fall apart.

A hand on his own had him flinching and turning to look at Fred. "If you want I can make them leave," the words Fred spoke were too soft for the others to hear.

With a shake of his head, Draco once again faced the other four and made a motioning movement at Harry to get him to speak.

"Umm… it wasn't a few days ago. It was a while ago, actually. Dumbledore had me go talk to one of his old friends. Someone named Horace Slughorn. I think he's going to be the new D.A.D.A. professor. It was confusing, really."

Not understanding what that had to do with him, Draco forced the words out of his mouth, "The point?"

"Thought you'd like to know."

Refusing to rub his head, Draco nodded. His hand didn't obey and went to his forehead and started to place pressure there. At first his brain didn't want to work correctly. Horace Slughorn sounded vaguely familiar.

After thinking on it for a minute the memory clicked into place. "Potions Master," he hated it, but his voice sounded tired and strained.

"What?" Ron asked, finally speaking up. "Snape's the potion master."

"He was the Potions professor," Draco sighed and looked at Sirius. "The mutt should remember."

When the golden trio looked at Harry's godfather Sirius shrugged without repentance. "What? I hated potions and didn't pay attention. Not only that, but some things are still a bit... fuzzy after my time with the dementors."

His throat felt sore from speaking as much as he had which was irritating seeing as Draco had barely talked.

"Sirius, how did you even become an Auror?"

Sirius grinned at Hermione and winked, "I'm not revealing all my secrets. You're turn, Hermione."

"It was actually Ron who thought of it."

Looking over at Ron, Draco tried to force himself to raise his eyebrow, but it failed so he just stared at the red head.

There was something that looked like a blush on his ears. "Well, I just asked if the fang would have been enough to destroy the horcrux. You guys said that it couldn't be destroyed by normal means, so why would a fang make a difference? Hermione was the one who came up with the idea."

"Alright, you all thought of it, awesome. What was it?" Fred asked, his voice tinged with anger.

"The poison," Harry threw in. "Hermione figures that since it's so potent, it was enough to destroy the horcrux."

"Harry can take us down into the chamber and we can extract some of the poison."

Draco shook his head. When the four looked at him in confusion, Draco sighed and whispered, "It would have dried up after a year. Poison does not last long after a creature dies, including magical creatures."

"Why not make a basilisk so we can have the poison?" Fred asked.

Draco turned with a bland expression, but it wasn't him who answered.

"Freddie, would you seriously want a pet that could kill us?" George's voice came from the door before he walked over and wormed himself on the other side of Draco, squishing the blonde between the two of them.

"Think of what we can do with it, though!"

"True, but I don't want to die."

Fred grinned while Draco shook his head at the two. He squirmed a little bit, crossing his legs and placing his clammy hands on his legs. There was movement from Fred and there was a palm pressing into Draco's back, rubbing into the knots.

Refraining from sighing, Draco leaned back minutely while staring at Hermione who said. "Well, do you know anything that's as potent as Basilisk poison?"

Before Draco could shake his head, Ron held up a hand, "Do you hear something?"

Sirius cocked his head to the side, "It's coming from Draco's room. Sounds like an owl at the window."

Fred and Draco stood at the same time. The blonde blinked at the auburn haired boy before shrugging and leading the way into his room as conversation picked up again.

"Would he really create a Basilisk?"

"It's Freddie, he might."

Grinning, Fred opened the door and both he and Draco entered the blonde's room. Draco walked right up to the window on the far wall and opened it. Apollo, his Eagle Owl, soared in and landed on Draco's shoulder. The owl held his leg out and waited for Draco to remove the thick package.

Once it was removed, Apollo nudged Draco's head before flying to the dresser and landing on top of it. With a shrug, Draco sat on his bed with Fred beside him. For a moment the blonde shifted the package back and forth, feeling the weight of it.

He opened the package and set the book behind him, not really looking at it. Instead he looked at the folded, heavy parchment. After a nudge from Fred, Draco unfolded the paper and began to read.

_Mr. Draco,_

_The following document is a set of legal citations that detail your-_

The parchment fell from his hands, the pages scattering around his floor. He kept staring at his fingers, working at keeping his breathing calm. He didn't focus on the tightening of his stomach, the itchiness of his eyes, the trembling of his body. He didn't.

When arms wrapped around his shoulders, Draco just caved. No matter how hard he tried, he wasn't handling this emotional roller coaster on his own. He brought his legs to himself and let Fred hold him. Draco buried his head in Fred's chest, trying to keep his sobs quiet.

When he finally grew silent, Draco kept his grip on Fred's shirt and couldn't stop his shaking. "She disowned me," he whispered brokenly. He fought the urge to change into Pup. Instead he kept his eyes squeezed shut.

Words weren't spoken. Fred kept his arm around Draco with his chin resting on top of the blonde's head. He pressed his fingers into Draco's back, once again slowly massaging the knots he found.

Draco finally pulled away when his tears stopped falling. He scooted to the head of the bed and wiped his eyes. His wand was lying on the bedside table where it would stay until he absolutely had to pick it up. After Draco pulled his hand away from his face and it was dry, he found Fred sitting next to him. A blush threatened to grow, but Draco pointed to the door to take the attention away from himself.

Understanding dawned on Fred's face, quickly followed by annoyance and a scowl plastered itself on his features. Fred wrapped an arm around the younger wizard and Draco did nothing to stop him. Draco waved his hand and the papers shuffled back in order, folding neatly and landed on the book, out of sight. Once the papers were in place, Fred drew his wand and the door quickly opened, causing three people to fall into the room.

George stood up from his spot on the couch and walked over while Hermione stayed in her seat on the armchair. George smirked as he said, "Told you that you would be caught." His smirk fell when he saw Draco and he jumped over the pile of limbs hurrying to Draco's side. He didn't ask what was wrong, he just knelt on the ground and joined Fred in glaring at the other three.

Sirius looked appalled - which was probably from overhearing that Draco was disowned - while Harry and Ron simply looked confused. Draco could feel himself start to hyperventilate when he finally heard Malfoy.

_Let me take care of them._

_No... I can't... No..._

_I'll just get them to leave us alone._

Too tired to argue, Draco allowed it happen. Malfoy soon had control and he straightened. He pushed the twin's arm away from him and stood up. He would have stepped on the other twin if he hadn't moved out of the way.

"What are you all gawking at?"

"Malfoy."

Malfoy looked over his shoulder and winked at Weasley Twin One. "In the flesh. Pray tell, why are you lingering? Do you believe yourself worthy of knowing the details surrounding our disownment? Even the mudblood has enough manners not to speak of things beyond her capacity."

"Oi!" The younger Weasley shouted out, taking a step forward.

"What? Baby Weasel doesn't like it when I call the mudblood Mudblood?" Malfoy snickered, held out his hand and his wand flew into it. "Now, if you would all disappear from view the kid would appreciate it." His smile turned into a grimace when he caught sight of his reflection in a nearby mirror. He flicked his wand to straighten his hair and clean his robes while he ran a finger across his neck as he waited for his appearance to be put to rights.

"Why are you here?"

Malfoy turned to Weasley Twin Two, but turned to first address Black who was staring at him with his mouth wide open. "Close your mouth, Black, you give us purebloods a bad name. It's no wonder you were disowned." With a sniff Malfoy went back to face Weasley Twin Two. "Obviously he wished for me to disperse of this... rabble."

"I thought you were kidding."

"No, Black, I rarely kid. I really do want you all to disappear so I don't have to stare at your faces longer than necessary."

"No, not that," Sirius finally croaked out. "I thought Harry was kidding when he said you were... real."

With a scoff Malfoy walked out of the room and into the living room so he could sit on the couch. As he sat, the couch turned into a plush chair that was larger than necessary. Yet Malfoy threw his legs over an armrest and leaned against the other. "Of course I'm real. Now leave so I can rest in peace."

"You said that... he was disowned," Ron muttered.

The mudblood stood while she glared at Baby Weasel. It was obvious that she didn't want to sit near him, which was perfectly fine with Malfoy. He didn't want to be anywhere near her presence.

"He was. Well, he is being disowned. He has yet to sign on the dotted line, become emancipated and receive access to his personal vault, but that's all simple semantics." Malfoy stretched out and grinned at the four flabbergasted people. The twins were standing behind the armchairs and glaring at him, as if that would stop him from speaking.

"Was he found out?" Potter asked. "How was he found out?"

"Worried he can't help you anymore?" Planting his feet on the floor, Malfoy could feel Draco's annoyance, but he pushed on anyway. "He shouldn't help you, Potter. He gains nothing from it." Striding towards the boy with glasses, Malfoy grabbed a fistful of Potter's shirt and pointed his wand at the other boy's chest, a sneer in place.

"Umm... that's what he said he wanted to do."

Malfoy barked out a laugh before pushing Potter away from him and into the wall. He couldn't hex the other boy, his wand would be traced. Punching was just too plebeian. He would suffice with a verbal assault. And he could watch with glee when they heard what he had to say.

He waited until Potter straightened and joined Baby Weasle, the mudblood, and Black before he said, "He was disowned because he killed his father."

Draco shied away when Malfoy saw the looks of horror on the others faces. Oh, it was glorious. A grin spread across his face as he continued, "He used bombarda to do it."

"That's enough." Twin Number One was standing in front of Malfoy with a scowl in place.

Malfoy cocked his head to the side with a small smirk, "What? Does it bother you that he was disowned because of you? That he chose you over his father?"

The room was silent and Fred blinked stupidly at Malfoy for a moment.

"Did you honestly think that he would kill his father was simply because he had no other choice?" Malfoy waved his wand in the air, dismissing the thought. "If it was that simple, then he would have let his father take him in."

"But his father -"

"Obviously you can't listen." Turning, Malfoy found that the others were listening raptly. "The fool could have had power and an... easier life if he just did what I said and actually joined the Dark Lord."

"So you want us to fail?" Baby Weasel spoke up. "You would take us to Voldemort as soon as you had the chance."

"What is up with you Weasleys and jumping to conclusions? Doing so would mean that we were caught and killed by the Dark Lord."

"But you would turn us over?"

"In a heartbeat." Malfoy grinned at the mudblood. "That won't be possible unless Potter dies. And seeing as he has been denying the Dark Lord that boon for the past sixteen years, I see no end to the trend. I gain nothing for turning you in without a way to guarantee Potter's demise. He has this irritating ability to get away." Malfoy tilted his head and added in as an afterthought, "Though if Potter manages to win, I won't have to kneel to anyone."

"That still doesn't explain why... Draco..."

"You can't even say his name," Malfoy snickered at Potter, leaning against the wall he had pushed the boy into moments ago. "He doesn't do anything because he wants to. Just think about how much easier our life would have been."

"It wouldn't have."

Malfoy once again turned his attention to Twin Number One. "It would have. There would have been no need for lying, just omission. Well, mostly omission with some lying. The old fool would believe anyone who said that they renounce the choices of the father. You asinine Gryffindors would have been forced to muddle your way through something you didn't understand. Black would have most likely died; that wouldn't have been a problem. He wouldn't have been forced to kill his own father. He would have power and not this... disaster of a life. And if you and your brother hadn't gotten in the way that's the life we would have lived." Malfoy pushed himself off the wall and stood toe to toe with Twin Number One.

"However, this life is more... entertaining." Malfoy dragged a finger down the twin's shirt and his grin stretched when the other flinched. "Far, far more entertaining." He felt Draco pushing him aside and he whispered for only the twin to hear, "Next time this will be more interesting."

"He won't let you."

"Are you so sure of that?"

Draco stumbled back, holding his head. He should have cared about what Malfoy had said, but he didn't. Instead, he weaved his way back into his room and went to his bed. He ignored the papers, knowing what was contained within them. He had read enough law books to know what he was entitled to and what would soon be stripped from him, if they hadn't already been.

He was still the Lestrange heir since his aunt hadn't disowned him from her entitlements - which wasn't much except for her money and property she had left in her vaults. She had no reason to disown him because she would not have minded if Lucius was dead.

He still had access to his own vault, which his mother and father had opened for him when he was born. Every year, they transferred a hundred galleons for each holiday and a few special occasions that his mother created at a whim. He could last many years on these funds if he spent the coins wisely.

What was taken away from him was his last name. Everything that had, and still did, bear his name would automatically remove his last name and leaving it to read Draco Lucius. At the stroke of midnight, Draco's tie to the Malfoy family would be severed.

Anything that required Malfoy blood to enter would no longer register him as a part of the Malfoy family. The place he had taken the twins wouldn't let him enter the room where the money was stored. The painting wouldn't open for him any longer.

Wards around his family home wouldn't grant him entrance unless it was approved by his mother.

Draco set the papers aside and reached for the book. He moved it from side to side, looking at the cover, the back and the spine to find any indication of what the book was about. He found nothing. The cover was completely blank. Sighing, he opened it up and nearly dropped the journal back on the bed.

_The Property of Aquila Malfoy_

Taking a deep breath, Draco flipped to the next page where his mother might have left him a missive. When he found nothing, he flipped to the very back to see if a note was there. Upon finding nothing, he slowly turned the pages backwards until he found writing. It wasn't his mother's handwriting, but the end of a journal entry. However, before he could close the journal, the last words on the page caught his attention and stole his breath away.

Quickly, he turned back to the top of the last entry and began to read. The handwriting was looping and elegant. Each letter was exactly where it was supposed to be and the spaces between words were perfect. Yet he could see the small tremors in the straight letters and the crookedness in the round ones.

_This will be my last entry in this journal. I have been writing sporadically for the last three years and I have no desire to keep writing about painful memories. I had been told that it would be therapeutic, but all it has done is dig those thorns deeper into my wounds._

_I miss my best friend. I miss her smiles and her laugh. I miss her humor and her naivety. I miss her anger and her quick temper. It was a breath of fresh air._

_I just miss her._

_Many told me the pain will ease, but it's been four years and it has not gone away. My son has been born. My heir. My only child. He looks like a Malfoy. Pale eyes and light hair. Perhaps every generation is destined to look like one another as well. I have no desire to find out._

_However, I will live on until my heir comes into his inheritance. I will help him through his life and perhaps we will find that the curse was a hoax. I doubt it will be, but Madalina hopes differently._

_The healers said to put all my thoughts and feelings down in here, and I have complied. Mostly. I decided to wait until my last entry to put my last thought of the incident down on paper._

_There is a quote in my family that has been passed down for many generations. I have no knowledge of when it first began. All I know is that my father and mother spoke of it often. However, it isn't until now that I understand it._

_Family is what makes us. It teaches us the basics in life: how to act, how to talk, how to eat, how to care - or not care, depending on the family. It teaches us everything that we need to survive._

_However, family is not only considered by blood. Aurora was my best friend, my closest confidant and no one has been able to take her place. I doubt any will. She was my family outside of my family._

_If she had waited a few more minutes before her final act, I would have told her I forgive her, that I would have still agreed to be with her even if it would have meant my banishment from my family._

_I may not have loved her as many romantics write about. But I wanted her happy and free from strife. I would have protected her. She was my family._

_And family is everything._

* * *

Draco stood in the field and had his arms crossed. It was the day before the train left for Hogwarts. He hadn't talked since the day he was disowned.

"Well, it's a good way to test it," George muttered. "Plus we already told Mum we're bringing a friend."

Slowly he turned his eyes to glare at Fred; Fred crossed his own arms and glared right back. "What?"

"She and everyone might flip..."

"... when you first enter, but...

"... it'll be fine after..."

"... we explain."

"We swear." The two spoke the last sentence together and looked so sure that Draco couldn't find it in himself to argue. He just sighed and nodded.

The three trudged down the well worn path. As they walked, Draco had to wonder if the Golden Trio had been working on their training as they should have been. Both with their mind and their physical training. He hoped so.

It didn't take very long for them to reach the wards. The two continued on without stopping, obviously not realizing exactly where the barrier actually was. Draco froze and held up his left hand, studying the burns on it.

Fred was the first to notice his absence. He turned back around and walked over to Draco and studied the scarred flesh of the blonde's hand. "Is that how you got that burn?"

Draco merely nodded and held it out to where the barrier should have been. His hand passed right through it and the last bit of hope that he had held onto burnt to ashes. The hope that his disownment had been a fluke.

Carefully Draco took a step forward. Nothing happened. George and Fred smiled gently at the blonde, warmth and... something else that Draco couldn't describe in their eyes. Both hooked their arms through his and gently led him forward to the leaning house where he could hear shouts and laughter.

He understood why they were bringing him. They wanted to distract him from his thoughts. The best way was to throw him into the midst of their family, apparently. Draco brought a finger to his necklace without thinking about it, rubbing it gently.

By the time Draco realized they had walked into the front door, George yelled, "Mum! We're here!"

George gave Draco's arm a squeeze before he detached himself and went jogging around the house. Fred removed himself and Draco turned wide eyed at the twin, not wanting to be alone in the mess they made. But Fred just grinned and draped an arm over the blonde and whispered, "I'm not gonna leave you. It'll be fine."

"Oh, who is this friend you keep talking about?" Molly Weasley's voice asked, moving closer to the two still standing in the doorway.

Draco's eyes flicked to and from the two passages that connected to the foyer. The farthest ended in sunlight. The closest showed a crowded living room. There was a door near the two of them which Draco assumed was a closet.

"We call him Blondie."

When he began to shift away to go back outside Fred tightened his arm around the boy and gave him a look that plainly said: _stay put_.

"Oh, dear, I don't suppose he likes it."

"I don't suppose he does."

Draco rolled his eyes, but froze when he saw Molly Weasley and George step into the short corridor. His breathing began to accelerate and his heart picked up pace and he would have taken a step back if Fred hadn't had a hold on him.

"Well then, why do you call the dear -" Mrs. Weasley halted, her body unmoving as she caught sight of Draco. The two stared at each other until the twins gently nudged them forward.

"Mum, this is Draco."

"Blondie, this is our mum."

Draco quickly got his emotions under check and thrust them under his mask before he gave her a slight bow, "Mrs. Weasley." His voice was quiet and he wondered for a moment if she even heard him.

Mrs. Weasley blinked a few times before saying, "Um... hello, dear... how did... I mean... the wards... the feud..."

Draco interrupted quietly, not wanting the woman to be confused, "Are still in effect, ma'am. However, they do not work on me."

"Why ever not, dear?"

Tensing, Draco looked over Mrs. Weasley's shoulder so he wouldn't have to stare into her brown eyes. "The wards are meant to keep Malfoy's out. Since I have been..." His voice got quieter and quieter with every word until he just tapered off and couldn't continue.

"Mum, Draco defected and his mother disowned him," George finished for him.

"Oh, you poor dear. But surely you heard of the feud."

"I would rather not think of the feud. It was long ago."

As if sensing he didn't want to speak about it, Mrs. Weasley gave him a tight-lipped smile. "Very well, dear. I'm sure you're famished. Let's get introductions out of the way so we won't have any confusion."

She turned and led the way forward with George and Fred on either side of Draco again. George leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "See, we told you Mum wouldn't make a big deal of it."

"What of everyone else?"

"Eh, Bill and Fleur are off on their honeymoon. Charlie left a few days ago. We don't talk to Percy anymore. The only people left are Dad and Gin."

"Since Sirius, Harry, Ron and Hermione know about you, it'll be fine." Fred leaned down and kissed Draco on the cheek before straightening and the three began to walk into the living room.

* * *

The day had been long and exhausting. Draco was glad that the twins had talked him into going to their home, just to give him a few minutes away from his own thoughts. It had been strangely easy for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to accept him. Ginny had been the opposite and had sent him glares the entire night.

Yet when he walked into the flat, that annoying feeling he had popped up when he thought of the possible horcruxes. It always happened when Hufflepuff's cup entered the forefront of his mind. The thought had bugged him constantly for the hours that followed.

Draco had enough. He knew something was there, but he just couldn't get to it. When he couldn't come up with another option, he turned to Fred who was sitting on Draco's bed next to the blonde. "I need you to find something for me."

"Alright. Where am I supposed to look?"

"In my mind."

"What?"

"I need you to cast legilimens on me."

* * *

A/N after this:

_To Oh my God (visitor): Thank you. :) And yes to your question, Lucius was not in control when he confronted Draco and the twins._

_To A Fan (visitor): Yeah, I usually tend to update faster than I have :/ I totally blame collage and finals. lol._

So, I hadn't known that Aquila wrote in a diary about the incident. I hadn't known how he felt about it until I just let my fingers type. The whole incident about the disownment? Yep, didn't see Narcissa doing that, but she insisted. So there you go, Ch. 49. Hope you guys all enjoyed it!

And thank you for all the reviews! They always make my day!

Oh, and the wedding thing? Yes, the wedding happened, obviously, but the attack didn't. It seems idiotic to me for the Weasley's to not have the place under heavier security because Harry stayed with them, so I pretended everything happened without a hitch. And Scrimgeour? He'll probably die later *shrug*. Another thing, I swear they're going onto the Hogwarts Express next chapter. Promise!

ALSO: I absolutely love my second mommy (who is editing this) because she is absolutely amazing. Ahem, anyway, this had me giggling like mad because she said something like this when Draco flinched away from Fred: "But Draco likes having Fred touching him... WAIT, not like that... Well, maybe."

P.S. ALSO: If you guys want to know something random: When my mommy is reading this, she looks at me like I'm crazy because of the little mistakes I make. Not only that, but you should see how much is highlighted because I end up writing how I say things, which does not always make sense... it's called Felicianese and it makes everyone's head hurt - at least everyone that I know. It's quite funny 'cause when I'm over at her house we're giggling constantly about what I've written and some of the time I'm like "... uh... yeah... I have no idea what I meant..."

And the reason for writing those random things? I have no idea... This is now the end of my rambling A/N :)


	50. Maybe

A/N Gosh darn this chapter was difficult to write. I blame it on Fred and Draco because they both demanded something and wouldn't allow me to delete. Oh well. What can one do but obey? Blarg. Hope you guys like it. :D

Also, there's a new POV in this chapter! Actually, at the very beginning. I have to admit, I don't think I ever want to get in this person's head again, at least not in this story...

* * *

There was something wrong. Very, very wrong. A Malfoy had waltzed into their home. It wasn't just any Malfoy, oh no, it had to be that greasy, slime ball, egotistical little snot nosed ferret. The ferret who deserved to be stuffed and have his head exhibited on a pole.

She didn't know how the prat got the nickname ferret, but it seemed to fit him to a tee. When he had walked into their kitchen and one of the twin's forced him to sit at their table, she had only been able to gape at him.

He didn't deserve to be there. He didn't deserve to be around her family. What she couldn't understand the most was why her mother just brushed it off. She had asked her mother - or perhaps it was more like yelling - why the _hell_ he was there and what kind of sick joke were the twins playing.

Her mother just popped her over the head and told her to be kind to the... the... Merlin, she couldn't even _think_ the words her mother uttered.

As soon as dinner was over Ginny had stormed upstairs and slammed her door closed. She paced mercilessly as she tried to figure out what her family knew. Was it all a joke? Was she the only one left out of the joke? Her father hadn't looked pleased and had taken her mother into the living room to talk to her.

When they had come back in, her dad still hadn't looked happy. He didn't say anything for the remainder of supper, but the twins took over the conversation. If someone - mainly Ginny - tried to ask something of the ferret, they would ignore her and steer the conversation elsewhere.

All she wanted to know was why the _fuck_ the blonde prat was there.

Ginny glared at the door, wondering what she was going to do. The ferret and Fred had already left; she had looked out her window and watched them leave. George had stayed to get the last of their stuff. She slammed a fist down on her desk, her red hair spilling over her shoulders.

She wanted answers! Of course she was in her right to be angry.

Harry.

Harry couldn't lie. Ok, he could lie, but he couldn't lie _well_. He would tell her. If not, Sirius would tell her. He had been grinning when Ferret-Face sat at the table. He knew what was going on and either him or his godson was going to tell her.

Storming out of her room, Ginny stomped down the stairs and found the two she sought after in the living room with Ron and Hermione. She walked straight up to Harry who was sitting on the floor beside Ron and snarled, "How could you just sit there and act as if nothing was wrong?"

"Um... What?"

"Gin, calm down. What are -"

"You too!" She stabbed a finger in Ron's direction. "It was only a few days ago that you were saying he was an inconsiderate prat who didn't know what was right or wrong. Yet today you sat there as if nothing was out of the ordinary. How? I have no idea because of all the people to come into our home, it was Ferret-Face! How is that even possible, Ronald?" Ginny was at her wits end. "It couldn't have been the twins because Mum would _never_ have gone along with a joke like that and Dad was angry!"

"Ginny, it was just the twin's -"

"No!" She screamed, wondering where their parents were. "It couldn't possibly be the twins because Mum wouldn't have stood for it!"

"Ginny, you need to calm down." Sirius stood from his spot on the armchair, holding his hands up as if that would placate her.

"Merlin! You all know why he was here and I don't! If you guys would just grow a pair you'd realize I'm old enough to understand what's going on! Instead you treat me like I'm still nine!"

"It's obviously because of your temper," a new voice snapped out.

Ginny whirled on George who was standing against the door that lead to the kitchen. He had a scowl in place. "I wouldn't have a temper if you all will just _trust_ me and tell me what's going on for the first time in your lives!"

"Ginny, we weren't even supposed to know," Hermione said, walking forward to stand in front of the redhead girl who turned her glare onto Hermione. "We learned by accident. It's not our secret to tell."

"Yet you found out." Ginny stalked to the fireplace, grabbed the floo powder and tossed it into the flames. "Then so will I." She stepped into the green flames as George rushed to her, but she shouted out, "Weasley Wizard Wheezes!" before he could reach her.

She was yanked up into the fireplace when she realized - belatedly - that George could apparate to his flat, but she didn't care. She flashed through other houses, barely getting any glimpses of the inside of the homes.

When she landed, she raced out of the floo room - which was in a back room where most people couldn't enter - and headed for the stairs that would take her to the flat. She heard a loud curse behind her and she knew she had a head start on George.

Quickly, she tapped the rhythm on the wall; her mum had made her practice it in case she had to go to the twins' flat. She took a glance behind her and saw George almost to her. She quickly entered and slammed the door behind her so that he had to stop and waste time opening it.

Racing up the stairs, she opened the door. She opened her mouth to scream for Fred, but two things happened to stop her. One, a hand was clamped over her mouth and two, Fred was leaning forward on the couch and staring at Ferret-Face who sat on an armchair. Neither of them were blinking.

"Don't you see what they're doing?" George muttered in her ear. "He's performing Legilimency on Blondie."

Ginny tried an age old trick that almost always worked: she licked his palm. She felt his hand twitch and she almost had the chance to escape, but his spare hand clamped down on her shoulder and kept her in place. His hand never left her mouth.

"Not gonna happen, Ginny."

Right before Ginny was about to stomp down on George's foot, Fred blinked a few times before shaking his head. "Bellatrix."

Ferret-Face looked ashen and his body swayed before he pressed a few fingers to his temple.

"She has it in her vault."

Fred stood and walked over to the blonde and gently took the younger wizard's face in his hands as he crouched down to be at eye-level. He rubbed Ferret-Face's temples as if massaging a headache away.

Having more than enough and becoming more confused by the minute, Ginny brought her foot down harshly on George's. Her brother cursed, causing Fred and Ferret-Face to look up in quick succession.

She would get her questions answered. "What the hell is he doing here?"

Fred, who had looked odd while staring at Ferret-Face, stood up and placed himself in between her and the blonde. Now she faced a Fred she had never met before. His face was in a scowl and his eyes blazed with anger. His whole body was tense and his mouth was clenched tightly. "That's not the right question."

"What?" Ginny blinked, confused.

"That isn't the right question." Fred walked forward until he towered over his sister. "What are you doing here?"

"Because apparently my whole family is insane!"

"Excuse me?" Fred's face fell until she couldn't see any emotion on it. Her blood ran cold as he just stared at her.

"He's a _Malfoy_, Fred!" She pleaded with him so that he would understand. "His father's a death eater! He's a death eater in training."

"You need to leave. Now."

Stealing her nerves, Ginny threw her head back and growled out a, "No." She saw Fred's eyebrow twitched. "Look, I don't know what he's done to you, but it's not good! He just entered our house, ate with us and learned things about us that he'll pass on to Vol... Voldemort. He's planning to kill us all!"

"That's enough!" Fred growled before he reached out and grabbed Ginny's arm tightly. "You don't know anything!"

"Then tell me!"

"Freddie, you're hurting her."

But Fred ignored George, glaring at Ginny. "It's not for me to tell you."

"Then whose is it? Certainly not his because everything he says will be a lie!"

"You know nothing of who he is, what he's done or his life! You can't say anything without knowing the truth!"

"Oh, so everything he's told you has been truth? You know for a fact that he doesn't lie? That he doesn't omit the important parts? You know his life? You know what he's gone through? You know who he is? He's a spoiled rich boy whose parents dote on him because he's their only son!"

"Ginny," George tried to interrupt again.

"And how would you know?"

"Look at his bloody clothes! His hair! The way he acts and talks! The way he holds himself as if everything should be given to him on a silver platter!"

Before Fred could say anything more, the two were shoved apart by a forceful gust of wind. Ginny flew into an armchair and Fred onto the couch. George was still standing, except he was facing one of the doors.

With a huff Ginny looked over to stare at what had caught George's eye. Ferret-Face was putting his wand away, a few parchments held in his hands.

"Blondie," Fred's voice had Ginny turning and watching as Fred struggled to get up, but couldn't. "What are you doing?"

"Ending an argument."

Ginny snorted. There was no way he could end the argument. She hadn't even started yet. Something was thrust into her hands and she blinked when she realized that Ferret-Face was standing in front of her. He released the parchments he held and she looked down at them in her hands.

Narrowing her eyes she snapped, "What are these?"

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't answer. He looked exhausted. Ginny shook her head and continued to glare until he tapped the papers before he turned to sit next to Fred. Fred pulled Ferret-Face onto his lap while the blonde tried to escape. George shook his head and sat next to his brother and poked Draco's arm while saying, "I don't see why you still struggle."

Ferret-Face just sniffed and looked over at her.

Rolling her eyes, she looked down. It was the _Daily Prophet_. It had only just come out, which was strange because the days edition was already out. This one must have come out later while they were eating.

Her hair falling around her shoulders, Ginny's eyes widened when she saw the headline.

_LUCIUS MALFOY_

_Murder or Accident?_

_It has recently come to our attention that a week ago Philanthropist Lucius Malfoy was found deceased at his estate - where a building had come tumbling down - by none other than his beloved wife, Narcissa Malfoy (née Black)._

_While details of the incident are sketchy, Aurors are looking into the cause of the collapse._

_This leads us to the heir of the Malfoy legacy or rather the disgraced son, Draco Malfoy. The young man has recently lost everything. Draco's mother, Narcissa, has in fact disowned him, stripping him of his inheritance including his last name. He is no longer a Malfoy._

_This raises more questions. Did Draco have something to do with his father's death? If so, why did Draco want his father dead? What did Draco gain? Where is Draco now? Will Draco be arrested?_

_The Ministry is having no luck in finding Draco, though they assume that he will continue on at Hogwarts this coming school year. If so, will the young man be brought in for questioning?_

_Stand by, my dear readers, for when this reporter finds the answers; I will report everything in full detail!_

_Rita Skeeter_

Ginny threw the paper to the ground and looked at the other parchments that Ferret-Face had given her. They were legal documents for his disownment.

"Did you kill your father?" Ginny asked quietly as she placed the papers on top of the Daily Prophet.

Ferret-Face stared blankly at her for a moment before he slapped Fred's hands away and stood. "Tell me, Ginevra, what would you typically do if someone was to point their wand at someone that is dearly important to you?"

"Curse them, of course."

The blonde inclined his head. "What if you know that the person would be able to protect themselves from most curses?"

"I don't know."

The Slytherin nodded as he brushed his clothes off. "I don't suppose you do." He then walked through a door and disappeared from sight.

Ginny stared after him before she looked over at Fred. "He didn't answer the question."

"Yes, he did." Fred tried to stand up, but he still couldn't. He was still stuck and he growled, pulling out his wand and ending the spell. He stood up, glared at his sister and walked after Ferret-Face.

"No, he didn't!" She shouted after him, but Fred didn't answer.

"Ginny, he did."

The girl tried to jump to her feet, but apparently she was under the same spell as Fred had been and she couldn't. "How was that an answer?"

"Think about this, Ginny: someone had their wand pointed at Fred and that person was a known duelist, but there was a wall behind him. It was either Fred or the other person."

"He killed his father to save Fred? Are you kidding me? And Fred believes that? He could just be saying that to get in our good graces!"

George growled, grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the flat and back towards the floo room. "His father is dead, Ginny."

"So? It could be some extreme plan!"

"Ginny, would you kill your father if Dumbledore asked you too, if it would end of the war?"

"No! But I'm not him! He would!"

"You don't know him!" George finally shouted, pushing her into the back room. "If you have to, find Blondie tomorrow on the train and talk to him, but one of the other three will have to be there."

Ginny tossed her hair over her shoulder, "Fine. But I still call this bullshit." She marched over to the floo, tossed in the floo powder, entered the flames and shouted, "The Burrow!"

* * *

"Draco."

The blonde turned towards Fred. He cocked his head to the side as he waited for Fred to say something else.

"Why did you do that? She would have read it in the papers."

"Your sister reads the news?"

"Ok, maybe not, but she would have heard about it tomorrow on the train."

"Yes and she would have then made an ordeal on the train instead of here."

"She might tell people that you actually confessed to the crime!"

Sighing, Draco walked forward and placed his hand gently over Fred's mouth. It would do nothing if Fred wanted to keep talking, but the Weasley twin fell silent at the motion. "Yes, but how many people would believe that I would tell her what I have or have not done?"

Fred sighed and went over to the bed, collapsing on it while dragging Draco with him to sit on his lap. "You said that Moldy Voldy gave you a letter of sorts?"

Draco's mind took him back to when he was arguing with Fred about entering his mind. His mother's owl, Athena, had come into view of the window and began tapping loudly until they let her in. "I did."

"Why'd you burn it?"

"Because that's what it directed me to do at the end."

"Well, do you want to talk about it?"

"There isn't that much to talk about. All the missive said was that my mother wants nothing to do with me and he is quite... pleased with my actions. It proves my loyalty to him for staying alive and ingraining myself further into the 'light'."

Fred wrapped his arms around Draco, burying his nose into the blonde's neck. Draco sighed as the soft breath tickled his skin. Soft lips gently made their way across the back of Draco's neck. "I'm sorry."

Blinking in confusion, Draco turned and stared at Fred. "What do you have to apologize for?"

"You had to chose between me and your father. You shouldn't have had to. I'm sorry."

Draco's heart clenched and he had to close his eyes tightly. He couldn't come up with any words he could say. What could he say? That it was ok? That everything would be fine? That he'd made the right decision? That it didn't still hurt? Because he wasn't ok. He knew everything wouldn't be fine. He felt as if he made the right choice; he knew if Fred hadn't been there he probably wouldn't have stopped his father from...

Slowly Draco turned so he was straddling Fred's hips. Fred's eyes went wide when Draco settled back down onto his lap. The blonde tried not to wiggle, but it felt... odd sitting that way. Pushing his thoughts away, Draco met brown eyes with his blue ones. "Do not apologize for something you have no control over."

Large hands cupped his cheeks even as Fred shook his head, "You don't understand. I won't say I'm sorry for that, but I am sorry that you're feeling the way you are and I wish I can do something to stop that."

Draco leaned down and hid his face where Fred's shoulder met his neck. He pressed a soft kiss there, blinking at the taste. It was slightly salty, but it wasn't bad. He pressed another kiss on the skin in front of him. He didn't realize that Fred had tensed up, gripping Draco's arms in his hands.

"Draco?"

"Mmm?" Draco peppered Fred's neck with kisses. He hadn't stopped when Fred spoke. Not thinking, wanting to do anything but think, Draco used his left hand to grab Fred's hair and yank gently to the side. More pale skin appeared for him to get at, and he didn't waste the opportunity, moving up Fred's neck slowly.

"This better not be Malfoy or I'll be in such a foul mood."

Unable to stop himself, Draco chuckled before nuzzling his nose against Fred's chin. "He's not this patient."

"Fair point."

"Mmm." Having to straighten his knees, Draco looked Fred in the eye, "You talk too much."

"Only -" Fred's sentence was cut off by a soft kiss. Draco jumped as Fred sighed and gripped the blonde's waist. He pulled back, though, when he felt Fred's fingers flex multiple times as if he were angry. Fred groaned and said, "You might want to get off, Blondie."

A blush wormed it's way up Draco's face and he swore to himself that he would never kiss Fred again . It shouldn't have hurt when Fred rejected him. He shouldn't have tried to distract himself with Fred.

But when Draco tried to worm away, Fred tightened his grip. "It's not you, Blondie, it's just -"

"Stuff it," Draco muttered. "I should have know that -"

"Draco!" Fred snapped, but the blonde wasn't having any of it.

"Stop! I know you won't stay with me after the war. I know you probably think I'm a thorn in your side. I know you only stay with me because I'm... a puzzle or -" Draco lost all word capacity when he let out a long, low moan. His eyes flashed downwards, his eyes widening. "I... I..."

Fred had pushed Draco down on his lap, something brushing against the blonde and caused Draco to respond the way he did. His blush darkened and his mouth parted just a bit. "Wh-?" He groaned as Fred twisted his hips into Draco's, Fred mimicking Draco's sound.

"Now that you're listening," Fred whispered hoarsely. "You really need to get off unless you want to finish what you started."

"It feels..." Draco couldn't come up with the words that fit what he felt. It was... different... yet... good. And he didn't really get what Fred meant by 'finish what you started' bit. He hadn't started anything... at least he didn't think he had. Fred was the one who pulled Draco into his lap after all.

* * *

All he wanted to do was kiss Draco until neither of them could breathe. Well, shagging sounded better, but hell, he waited for what seemed like forever for the blonde. He could wait a bit longer, but shagging did sound good. Now he had said blonde in his lap, who had been happily kissing his neck and was now staring at him with wide, blue-gray eyes that were filled with confusion and lust.

Groaning, Fred bent forward and dropped his head on Draco's shoulder. "I know how it feels, but seriously you're going to kill me with what you're doing."

"What am I doing?"

His hands tightened even more on Draco's hips and the Weasley feared he was going to bruise the blonde. "You're sitting in my lap. You were kissing my neck which is hot as hell. All I can think of is what I'd like to do to you, but can't do since I don't want you to do something you don't want to do."

He had just talked himself into releasing the younger wizard just as Draco shifted a bit. Fred groaned again, unable to stop his hands from making their way to Draco's lower back. "Blondie, why are you doing this?"

Silence stretched on for a while. Fred felt his heart clench when he realized just why Draco was doing what he was doing. He leaned back and looked Draco in the eyes.

"Draco, are you doing this because of what happened?"

All it took was for Draco to lower his eyes to the side for Fred's fears to be confirmed. Yet Draco opened his mouth and answered anyway, "Yes... and no. I want..." The blonde took a deep breath before continuing, "I want to feel something other than how much I hate myself."

"Draco..."

"Let me finish. I hate myself because of... of my father. I hate myself because of my mother. Everything I do in this war I hate. Your father being attacked. Your mother's worry for you, though she might not know of it, will be because of me. But what I hate myself most is wanting you when I can't have you."

The words grabbed at Fred's chest and refused to let go. "You said that I think of you as a puzzle?"

Draco nodded, still not looking up.

"You are a puzzle, Draco. One that I won't get bored with, ever." Fred wrapped his arms firmly around Draco and pushed the smaller teen into his chest. "And the whole part about you not having me because you can't? That's not possible. You already have me."

"But George, he -"

"He's my twin, yes, but I already chose you."

"But -"

"No buts. I could have left with George, I didn't. I could have left you to help George at the store, I didn't. I could have stayed at the Burrow with my brother to help him pack some things we left, I didn't. He's my twin, you... I can't let you go. You're stuck with me. If you go off and run away, I'll just chase you until I found you again."

"But -"

"Stop saying the blasted word!" Fred kissed Draco's neck and sighed. "I don't care what you want. Friendship, company, a shoulder, a pillar or something more I will give it to you."

He felt Draco sigh and lean against his shoulder. "I will not... I can not stay here after the war. I will go somewhere away from Britain."

"Then I'll go with you."

Draco grabbed Fred's shoulders and pushed himself back, almost knocking Fred in the chin. "The shop?"

"You were going to say but in front of the sentence, weren't you?" Fred grinned at him. When Draco didn't smile Fred sighed again. "I'll go where you go. Coming back will be easy. I can apparate if it's close enough or I'll just floo or get a portkey. Easy peasy."

"Why would you chose to come with me?"

"Do I need a reason? I want to." Fred pulled Draco back against his chest, just wanting to hold onto him. 'You'll just have to deal with it."

The two sat there in silence, content to just hold each other. Fred kept his head bowed, his nose resting on Draco's neck. The blonde smelt like fresh grass and wind. They didn't move until there was a soft knock on the door.

Fred stiffened. He didn't think Ginny would come back, but his sister was as stubborn as they came. He leaned back, kissed Draco on the forehead and moved him to the bed even as he felt his anger come back to the surface again.

He marched over to the door and opened it just a little. Carefully positioning himself so he could block whoever was at the door from seeing Draco, he felt himself sag a bit in relief when he saw George who asked, "Hey, how's blondie?"

"He's fine. Draco, George will stay with you. I need to go see Mum. Ginny needs..." He couldn't finish his sentence, his anger constricting his throat.

"No." Fred's head whipped around. He meant to say something, but Draco wouldn't let him. "You need to stay and calm yourself. Let your sister calm down as well. You don't want to cause irreparable damage."

"But she -"

Closing his eyes firmly, Fred tried to reign in his anger when Draco yet again interrupted him. "Is just confused. Think about it for a moment. If the only information you had to go by was how I act in front of everyone I would not want to know me, either. I wouldn't trust myself. Then, out of the blue, I come to visit your family. Your family who, for some reason, is ok with me being there. You're the only one who doesn't know why and everything you know, everything you've been taught has been turned completely around.

"Give her time. I'm sure she's just confused and confronting her will only make it worse."

Fred nodded and leaned against the doorframe, closing his eyes. He didn't want to listen to the blonde. He wanted to go back and yell at his sister, but Draco didn't want him to. It didn't help matters that the blonde was right. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Draco glanced around the platform. Nott was glaring at him with Crabbe and Goyle cracking their knuckles behind him. Blaise gave him a nod with an ecstatic Pansy on his arm. When she went to run over to Draco, Blaise leaned down to whisper something in her ear and she frowned. However, before the two entered the train, she waved at Draco.

Everyone else were either trying not to look at him or were blatantly pointing at him as they whispered back and forth.

Half the Slytherin's looked ready to murder him while the other half had huge, disbelieving eyes. Apparently the Dark Lord had already told most of his followers that Draco had defected and if they had the chance, they had to bring him in front of the Dark Lord.

For appearances sake, he had to stay close to the trio and he was already imagining the headaches he was going to receive. He was thankful that he no longer had fits if he was harmed and that the trio could successfully block their minds from moderate attacks.

It was better than he would have ever hoped. By Christmas they might be able to stop a random attack for more than a few seconds.

The skin above his heart heated for a second before returning to normal, a constant reminder of his mum's life hanging by a thread, depending on every action he made even if she didn't want him. His left fist clenched, his burnt skin hadn't healed properly like he had hypothesized.

Entering the train, he made his way to one of the back compartments that were still empty. He opened the door and quickly closed it behind him. Casting a silencing charm and a locking charm, he sighed as everything else but the room ceased to matter.

"You might as well come out. I know you found a way to smuggle yourself in."

There was nothing but silence for a while until a small green snake slithered onto his leg and rose its head to stare at him.

"Change. What are you waiting for?"

The snake shimmered before Fred was sitting on his lap. Draco's eyes immediately widened and he pushed Fred off him. The Weasley fell cackling to the floor. "You asked me to change, Blondie." He stood up and leaned until his face was inches from Draco's. "Are you going to blush?"

"Do not be preposterous."

"Darn." Fred quickly shortened the distance until he placed a kiss on Draco's nose again, a soft smile in place. Then he laid himself down on the seat beside Draco so he could place his head on the blonde's leg. Draco thought of sending him toppling to the floor, but decided against it. He just gave the other boy a pat on the head.

"I believe I told you not to come."

"And I told you that you would have to deal."

"You have a store to run with George."

"He can run it on his own."

"You have your own life."

"But I'd prefer to spend my time with you."

"That's dangerous time."

"You're worth it."

Draco didn't know how to answer that, so he just placed his left hand in Fred's hair. The two didn't speak at all for the rest of the ride. Fred had fallen asleep as Draco slowly ran his fingers through the auburn hair.

Maybe, just maybe, his life was worth fighting for.

* * *

A/N Sorry this is so late. I've been trying to write, but all I've wanted to do lately is read. I haven't even finished the next chapter yet. Which is bad for me because I'm usually three chapters ahead... So... yeah... But I will finish this. I know for certain of two things that _will_happen. Plus I can't give up on this. It's my baby. :)

Anyway... that tiny little scene? I didn't have any plan on having that in there, and I don't plan on doing others like it that often (as you can tell since this is already 50 chapters long and barely has any parts of that romance fluffy stuff)... I actually hadn't planned on having anything like it in_ Behind the Mask_ because I'm not comfortable writing those scenes. The few times I've tried, they've always sucked (at least I think so). And that little bit that I did write? Yeah... I got stuck on it for more than a few days. Draco and Fred refused when I tried to take it out multiple times, little buggers. LOL. So, even though this fic is rated M, I hope you guys all realize that there won't be anything graphic between Fred and Draco.

Sorry for the long rantish thing, I'm writing this when I'm half asleep, not always a good idea...

Anyway, thank you guys for reading and reviewing, you are all the best!


	51. The Ending Of Nonsense

The murmuring wouldn't stop. Wherever Draco went, the sound of whispers followed him. People pointed, people glared, people stood in shock, people moved out of his way quickly. Perhaps it was how Harry felt whenever he went somewhere. Well, and that the people would actually swarm adoringly around Harry and not Draco, but that was beside the point.

Draco had his hand in his pocket where a wand that wasn't his own rested. There were times he wished he snapped it or just left it somewhere hidden. No matter how many times he tried, he couldn't get rid of it.

His own wand was in its holster up his sleeve where he could easily access it. Fred the Snake was wrapped loosely around his neck, unmoving. To anyone he looked like a necklace.

Slowly entering the Great Hall, Draco made sure to keep his chin held high as he stalked over to the Slytherin table. He ignored the venomous looks he received and just patiently waited for the feast to begin.

Sev wasn't at the Head Table and Draco couldn't come up with a reason of why he wouldn't be there. With a tilt of his head, he was staring at the double doors.

More people were pouring in, their idle chatter filling the huge room.

"There you are, Draco! I've been looking for you!" Pansy dropped down next to him, the first Slytherin to actually come anywhere near him. Blaise settled himself in front of Pansy and just gave Draco a nod in acknowledgement.

Draco returned the gesture before turning to Pansy. "And you would be searching for me for what reason?"

"To talk, of course! We haven't talked in ages and I've missed hanging out with you and Blaise." The girl waved her hand to dismiss whatever Blaise was about to say. "Besides, who believes the Daily Prophet anyway?"

Letting his eyes roam around the room, Draco then turned to Pansy and raised an eyebrow. "Many, I'm sure."

"Mindless pigs, Draco. They're all just mindless pigs."

"I believe the word you're looking for is sheep, Parkinson. Sit straight."

"How many times do I need to remind you my name's Pansy?"

"How many times must I remind you to correct your posture?"

"So if I correct my posture you'll call me Pansy?"

"No."

"See? So what's the point of perfect posture?"

The hall grew quiet and Draco turned to look at the entrance of the room. The man who stood there had a black trench coat on and was staring directly at him. Unwilling to move right away, Draco cocked his head to the side and smirked. He wasn't going to make their job easier than it had to be.

Whoever the auror was sighed and strode over to them until he stood behind Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, if you'll be so -"

"I believe you are mistaking me for someone else. My last name is no longer Malfoy."

No one talked, every single pair of eyes were locked on Draco and the auror behind him. "My mistake, Mr. Draco. If you will be so kind as to follow me."

Standing, he gave a nod to Pansy and Blaise before following the Auror. The sound of people talking grew and Draco forced himself to keep his smirk on his face.

_We should curse them._

For the first time in a while, Draco agreed with Malfoy. However, he knew that it wasn't an option. Looking over his shoulder, he spotted a student grinning at him - and not in a friendly way. Perhaps Draco would get a chance to curse someone.

It didn't take long to exit the Great Hall and to walk into an unused classroom.

He hadn't been all that surprised to see an auror come for him. He hadn't been surprised when they had left the Great Hall without anyone objecting; not even the professors.

What he hadn't been expecting was the auror who was waiting for them in the unused classroom. His cousin, Nymphadora Tonks. Her hair was black and in a pixie cut. Her eyes were a brilliant blue that were narrowed on him. Her height was just slightly over his five foot seven inch frame.

Draco had never met her before. The only reason he recognized her was because she had stood, put her hands on her hips and snapped out, "I'm Auror Tonks. Auror Williamson and I are here to question you about the death of your father."

"You mean the murder of my father." He watched as Nymphadora tilted her head to the side. "Sugar coating what has happened will only drag this out longer, will it not?"

_Let me out._

"Yes it will," Williamson muttered. "Alright then, I will administer the truth serum and ask the questions while Aurora Tonks will record everything. Now, if you are ready, Mr. Draco, let's begin."

"No." The two aurors straightened and made to pull out their wands, but Draco just sat down in the only piece of furniture in the old classroom: the chair in the middle of the room. "You will not be the one to administer the potion to me, nor will you be the one to ask the questions. Nymphadora will be the one to do so."

"Wha?"

Draco didn't think that warranted an answer so he turned to Williamson and waited for his response. "That, Mr. Draco, is against Ministry policy. Since Auror Tonks is a direct descendant of the same family line as you are, the relation can contaminate and skew the results in-"

"Nonsense. If that was an issue then she would not be here. However, since we have never met once or talked in any fashion, it should hardly be counted into the equation at all."

The two aurors exchanged glances before Williamson nodded and pulled a vial out of his trench coat and handed it to Nymphadora. Draco watched, enchanted, as the witch's hair color turned a deep brown instead of the black and the bright blue eyes dimmed down to a lighter shade of the previous color.

She walked extremely slowly to the boy before she stopped, uncorked the vial and waited for Draco to open his mouth. He did so and waited for two small drops to land on his tongue before closing his mouth. He swallowed the potion down and felt something make its way into his landscape, but he was able to grab the potions influence with some vines and contain it so the Veritaserum wouldn't affect anything he said.

The two aurors wouldn't believe he was skilled in Occlumency and able to stop the truth serum.

"We'll wait a moment for the Veritaserum to take hold before we begin," Williamson said as he moved to the far side of the room while Nymphadora took a few steps away from Draco.

The silence stretched on before she took a deep breath and asked, "What is your full name?"

"My birth name is Draco Lucius Malfoy. My name at this time is Draco Lucius. I have no family name."

"What is your mother's full name?"

"Narcissa Irma Malfoy née Black."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"No."

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"What do you know about your father's murder?"

"Everything." Draco had thought it through on the train ride to Hogwarts. He would tell them most of the truth, except for the fact that his father had been taken completely over by his mask. That the man Draco once knew and loved had been gone before his body had followed.

"Who killed your father?"

"I did." Draco's voice was soft as he admitted that aloud. His eyes went to the far wall and didn't focus on anything. For a moment, he could see the rocks and rubble as it fell, his mother's wail filling the room.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Nymphadora asked. "You do realize that you'll be sent to Azkaban?"

Draco shook himself out of his trance and looked at his cousin. "No, it doesn't."

"You just -"

"Nymphadora, you are not finished with your interrogation."

"You admitted to -"

"Killing my father, yes. However, you did not ask about the circumstances." He fought to keep his voice steady, his face impassive.

"Alright, what were the circumstances?"

"Self defense. I was there to retrieve what was rightfully mine and he tried to kill me. I sent out mild hexes while he shot the killing curse."

"Yet you used bombarda. If you had hit him, he would have died, yet you hit the wall to kill him that way instead."

"No, I sent the spell at the wall in an attempt to get his attention averted. It worked too well and now he's dead."

Nymphadora narrowed her eyes, "You do not appear to be mourning the loss of your father."

"I do not hear a question, Nymphadora."

She huffed and crossed her arms, obviously annoyed, "Auror Tonks, Mr. Draco."

Draco didn't bother repeating himself. He would call her Nymphadora even if she hated it.

"Why are you not mourning the loss of your father?"

"I am."

"Why does it appear that you are not?"

"I wouldn't show weakness in front of you."

"Emotion is a weakness?"

Draco held back an eyeroll before he said, "No."

"Explain."

"Emotion is human nature. However, when we are at our lowest we are at our weakest. All one needs to do is to suppress our weakness - in this case my mourning - until we are in a setting where we are not in danger."

"This is dangerous?"

"Of course. You have already threatened me with Azkaban."

The door banged open and Sev strode through, an angry scowl in place. "What is the meaning of this?" He walked in between Draco and Nymphadora, aiming his fury at the two aurors. "I did not realize that the auror department is full of imbeciles. I believe Dumbledore and myself specifically stated that you would not question him without one of us present."

Williamson's hazel eyes turned towards Severus "Professor Snape, glad you could join us. While it is true we agreed you're attendance would be allowed during the interrogation, your presence wasn't necessary. Therefore there was no reason to delay due to your absence." Apparently dismissing the potions master, Williamson turned to Nymphadora. "Continue."

Nymphadora paused, blinking rapidly until she nodded when Sev moved out of the way. "Who else was there when you killed your father?"

Pausing, Draco went back to the Daily Prophet and the interview they had with his mother. She said she hadn't gotten there until the wall fell on top of his father. "My mother arrived as the wall fell. I left immediately afterwards."

"What of your disownment?"

Severus looked over at Draco, but the boy didn't give him a glance. "Let me ask you, Nymphadora: if you had a son and he killed your husband - in self-defense or otherwise - would you want to allow your son to remain the heir of everything your husband stood for?"

She didn't have an answer to that. "What spells did he use against you?"

"The killing curse, dismemberment, one that turns your skin inside out, one that takes your intestines and places them outside your body. Do you want me to continue?"

His cousin looked a bit green as she shook her head. "Was your father a death eater?"

Even though he didn't want to admit it, he did. "Yes."

"Were you?"

Shrugging, Draco rolled up his left sleeve and showed them his arm. "I was in training. I had left after returning home for the summer. I have no desire to bow down to anyone. A week before school started, I went back for my money."

"And that is when the whole ordeal happened?"

"Yes." Draco shifted a bit before his stomach let out a low rumble. He looked down at it, not believing that it actually betrayed him by making a sound.

"He has admitted that he acted out of self-defense has he not?" Severus' voice spoke up.

Nymphadora turned her head to the side and gave the professor a nod.

"What else do you need to know?"

"Who are the other Death Eaters?"

"I don't know. They always wear masks and they put a charm on their voices so I couldn't recognize them."

"Then that's all." Williamson walked forward and went to hand Draco a vial, but Sev took it and unstoppered it. He took a quick whiff, swirled the liquid and stared at the coloring and consistency before he gave the vial to Draco.

Draco knocked the vial back, drinking the potion and shuddered at the taste. The weird presence in his landscape melted away, making Draco sigh as he stopped trying to choke the strange thing.

"What of Azkaban?" Draco asked as he stood warily, stopping himself from rubbing his temples.

"If what you say is true, then it was self-defense, Mr. Draco. You will be required to submit the memory as further evidence prior to your name being fully cleared to support your testimony."

Nodding, the blonde turned and went to the door with Severus beside him. The two aurors followed behind them and walked the two to the Great Hall.

When they were standing in front of the two double doors, the aurors left and for a moment Severus had his hand on Draco's shoulder. Taking comfort in it for a second, Draco closed his eyes before he straightened.

There was a squeeze on his shoulder before Severus took his hand back and the two entered the Great Hall.

* * *

The moment Draco was alone in his room, he pulled out his wand and waved it at the closed door that led to the common room. He fell on his stomach onto his blankets, wrapping his arms around his head.

It had been a long night. During the feast people would point and stare, whisper and glare. Afterwards, on the way to the common room, he had been constantly jostled between everyone. Theodore had even called out - when they were in the Slytherin common room - that he was a father killer.

Draco technically was a father killer, but he didn't want to hear others calling him that. Merlin, it was only the first night back. He had the Come and Go Room he could run to. He had Severus if things got too rough. He had Fred.

The green little snake unwound himself from Draco's neck and slithered to the spot in front of Draco. A second later the body shimmered and Fred was sitting cross-legged on the bed. He didn't say anything. He just gently placed his hand in Draco's hair, massaging the blonde's scalp.

Draco slowly reached out and gripped Fred's pant leg as his shoulders began to shake. He tried to keep his breathing even, but it just grew shallower. He tried to keep the tears at bay, but they refused to listen.

Fred just sat there, rubbing Draco's head as the younger man wept.

* * *

There was hardly anyone in the Great Hall. Breakfast had just started and the moment Draco had sat down Sev had handed the blonde his schedule.

_Monday:_

_Study of Ancient Runes - First Period - Gryffindor_

_Defense Against the Dark Arts - Third Period - Gryffindor_

_Lunch_

_Double Potions - Fourth and Fifth Period - Gryffindor_

_Tuesday:_

_History of Magic - Second Period - Ravenclaw_

_Lunch_

_Herbology - Fourth Period - Hufflepuff_

_Astronomy - 23:00 - Hufflepuff_

_Wednesday:_

_Arithmancy - First Period - Ravenclaw_

_Potions - Second Period - Gryffindor_

_Lunch_

_Transfiguration - Fourth Period - Hufflepuff_

_Charms - Fifth Period - Ravenclaw_

_Thursday:_

_Herbology - First Period - Hufflepuff_

_Double Defense Against the Dark Arts - Second and Third Period - Gryffindor_

_Lunch_

_Study of Ancient Runes - Fifth - Gryffindor_

_Astronomy - 24:00 - Hufflepuff_

_Friday:_

_Double Transfiguration - First and Second Periods - Hufflepuff_

_Charms - Third Period - Ravenclaw_

_Lunch_

_Arithmancy - Fifth Period - Ravenclaw_

He sighed, looking at what he had for the day. All day with Gryffindors. Which meant all day with the Golden Trio. Which meant he had to actually sit and talk with them.

No, he didn't have to sit with them. He would talk to them, but he wouldn't sit with them. Hermione was the only one out of the three who wasn't jumping down his throat. He would rather sit by Blaise who demanded nothing and would just be quiet company.

Something rubbed against his leg and he looked down before a small smile appeared on his face. He reached down and pulled Eira into his lap, stroking her pure white coat. His fingers easily moving through the soft fur.

He reached forward and took a small piece of bacon and fed it to her. The kneazle was getting bigger and bigger, almost the size of a Blue-Heeler and it was uncomfortable to keep her in his lap, but he did.

She gave a mewl as she placed her front paws on the table. Bright blue eyes turned to him as she gave another meow. Her bushy tail weaved around in his lap. The green little snake made his way down Draco's neck and down his arm to lay down in Eira's warm fur, the very end of his tail wrapped around Draco's pinky finger.

Draco spent the next half hour feeding himself and Eira and the green-snake. There wasn't any way that he could name it Fred because it looked nothing like Fred except for the weird eyes which were the color of warm chocolate instead of the normal black.

Finished, Draco gently placed Eira on the ground and stood. More and more people were coming in. Before he could walk away, Apollo came soaring down and landed on the table. The Eagle Owl held out his leg regally and Draco took off the newspaper that was attached to him.

When Eira went to jump on the table to move towards the owl, the blonde quickly gave Apollo some bacon and the owl left just as Eira pounced on the spot where Apollo had just left. When Eira jumped, the green snake's tail tightened around Draco, making the boy quickly move the snake back to his neck.

Moving away from the table, Eira simply followed him as she pounced to the floor. She trotted by his side as they headed for the double doors. He was just about to step through the doorway when two parts of the Golden Trio appeared.

The whole hall fell silent. All eyes turned to them. Harry didn't bother looking at anyone while Ron fidgeted. Eira gave a large yawn before padding out of the Great Hall and headed to who knew where, apparently bored with what the humans were doing.

The Slytherin inclined his head in greeting. Harry smiled and asked, "Have you gotten your schedule yet?"

Everyone seemed to lean as close as they could to the group. Hermione stood from the Gryffindor table and made her way over to them.

Draco didn't give a reply except for showing off the white parchment. Before Harry could say anything more, Hermione was standing beside Draco. "Slytherins and Gryffindors are sharing classes today."

"Does that mean he's going to sit next to us?" Ron blurted out.

"Of course not, Weasley," Draco clenched the newspaper in his hand while he placed his school schedule in his robe's pocket. "If I had any desire to sit with any of you, it would certainly not be with you two imbeciles."

They were supposed to be on speaking terms, but the boy found it hard to have a civil conversation with either of the boys.

"So you would sit next to Hermione? A muggle born?"

"I thought that didn't matter, Weasley," he rose an eyebrow before continuing on while Ron sputtered. "She is the only one in your... posse who understands what is going on. If you will excuse me."

Sweeping past the two gaping Gryffindors, Draco didn't get far before a call of, "Draco!" had him pausing. He didn't turn to look at who called out - who wouldn't recognize her voice? - but waited for her to catch up.

"What do you need, Granger?"

"I was just wondering if you were heading to the library."

"If I was?"

"Then I was going to invite myself to go with you."

Draco hummed before striding forward with Hermione beside him. They walked in silence that Draco didn't mind at all. It was... content. He had nothing to say, she apparently had nothing more to say and they could just walk.

He never had that with anyone. His mind said Fred, but he pushed that thought away. He warned himself he couldn't become to content or he could lose everything.

They finally made it to the library. Madam Pince gave them an odd stare before she went back to her books. The two made their way to the back. Since most students were either getting ready for the day or at breakfast, the two were basically the only ones there.

There were a few students here and there. They passed a Hufflepuff and a few Ravenclaws. The Slytherin and Gryffindor went past all of them and sat in the back next to a tall window. The sun was already up and gave good light onto the table.

Hermione put up a silencing charm while Draco put other safety charms on top of hers, lying the newspaper on the table.

"I heard Ginny saying something about Bellatrix."

Trust Hermione to just jump into the topic. "Ah, you are talking about the time when she intruded in her brothers' home. Yes, I did mention Bellatrix. She has a possible horcrux in her safe."

She blinked a few times before her eyes narrowed, "Then why didn't you mention it before?"

"It was the night before we left here. Nothing could have been done before hand." Draco set his bag on his lap as he leaned back. "There would have been no time to go look for it. There would have -" Draco broke off and looked to where they entered. "I expected her to wait a bit longer. Lower the silencing charm if you do not mind, Granger."

The girl nodded and waved her wand. "Who's there?"

"Ginevra, it is prudent you stop trying to eavesdrop on a conversation you can not hear. It reflects poorly on you, especially once you are caught."

The redheaded girl came out, a blush on her face as she looked at the two of them. "Why are you with him, Hermione?'

"He's on our side, Gin."

"How do you know?"

"The library is not the correct location to talk of this." Draco stood, grabbed his bag and pulled it onto his shoulder while he idly stroked his neck. "If you wish to continue, follow quickly so none of us are late to our classes."

Without a backward glance, Draco lead the way out of the library. Hermione quickly followed and Ginny stormed behind the two of them. Draco weaved his way to the moving staircases, but when the stairs began to move he clamped his hand down hard on the railing and kept still.

When the stair finally stopped moving, Draco continued on as if he hadn't stopped in the first place. Other kids either ran past the three of them or stopped and stared. Draco just kept on moving, pretending that the staring didn't bother him.

The snake tightened around his arm - where he had moved - and Draco hoped that he would stay put for the whole scene. He didn't want Fred to come out. He didn't want anyone to know he was there. If someone found out...

Not lingering on the thought of Dumbledore somehow figuring out the twin was there, Draco had to shoulder his way past a few Gryffindors when he reached the seventh floor. Quickly maneuvering their way past the nosey children, Draco once again stood in front of Barnabas the Strange and the trolls who still wore tutus.

"Ah, you're back again, are ya? With friends this time. Don't disturb my practices, now." With that, the man huffed and went back to the trolls. "No! You twirl at the same time and then jump at different intervals. It isn't that difficult! You learned it already! Why can't you remember?"

"How does he know where the room is?"

Draco once again ignored the girl and paced three times, focusing on what he wanted.

A green door appeared, vines carved into the smooth wood. Draco carefully opened it and gently smiled at what appeared. Before him was the path that belonged in the garden at the mansion. His little safe haven if he was stressed out, not that Ginny or Hermione needed to know that.

The other two followed him in and the door shut quietly behind them.

Trees loomed around them, leaves of orange, red and yellow drifting around them on a non existent wind. A well worn path was before them and Draco lead the way, letting the girls follow him. Not even twenty steps later the path stopped and the meadow was in front of him.

However, he didn't enter. He stayed in the trees, once again not entering the little meadow. Even though it was a replica, he wouldn't enter.

_What are you trying to accomplish?_

Draco ignored Malfoy's voice as the two girls walked past him and into the meadow. They looked around with open mouths and wide eyes. It didn't take long, though, before Ginny remembered why they were there in the first place.

"Why are you with him, Hermione?"

"We were studying."

"Even you! Why can't you just tell me what's going on!"

"Ginevra, that is not why you are here." Draco crossed his arms as he asked, narrowing his eyes. "You would have confronted me with or without Granger present."

She huffed before she crossed her arms. "I want to know with what spell or potion or..." she threw her hands up in the air, apparently exasperated, "whatever kind of dark magic you know that caused my brothers to be under your rule and I want them free. Now. You aren't good for them and Fred's gone missing."

"Has George seemed worried?"

"No, but if it has something to do with you then -"

"You saw them both before you boarded the train."

"Well, yes -"

"There has been no time for Fred to disappear and for you to have received an owl."

"Oh, I just know Fred would do something stupid. If he's under something he wouldn't stay with George."

Sighing, Draco leaned against a tree. "Alright, this nonsense is going to end. Potter, I know you are there."

When no answer came Draco sighed and gently took the snake off him. "Granger, if you will." He handed her the snake and Draco widened his stance just a bit while he drew his wand. "_Accio Harry Potter_."

* * *

A/N I want to apologize for the atrocious wait. It's nearing the end - I actually see the ending playing out in my mind - and I'm trying to figure out how to tie in everything in together because I want to make sure I tie up all the loose ends. So it's going to be slow posting from now on. It doesn't help that I got promoted in one of my jobs so I went from working 20 hours a week for both jobs to about 40 hours a week for just one of them, and 4-12 hours at the other... fun times, yea? I will try to update as quickly as I can, though. :)

Any and all comments are welcomed, they actually make me more excited to write and always make my day when I read them. Thank you for being so patient with me and sticking with this story.

Also, I _have_ written another one-shot. I know, bad me, but I actually really like how this one came out. Like, I really like it a lot - which is something that does not happen very much. Haha. It's titled, "Delving Into the Mind". This is now the end of another long authors note. Until next time. :D


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